


Green Eggs and Ham Season Four: The Reality Unheard Of

by Outrightelm6724



Category: Green Eggs and Ham (Cartoon), Green Eggs and Ham - Dr. Seuss
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama & Romance, F/M, Mystery, Psychological Drama, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:49:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 32,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28422720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Outrightelm6724/pseuds/Outrightelm6724
Summary: "Son of a yip. He created another reality."Guy Am I, the most successful inventor, is content with his life. He built masterpieces while living with his family in Stovepipe Junction. Everything turned out fine except for the constant nightmares about him and the other people he had no idea who it was. One day, everything changed. As Guy finds out more about his nightmares while getting the chickeraffe back home, the unknown darkness comes after him and the people in his dreams. Will he realize who he really was or will the darkness engulfed him?
Relationships: Guy Am I/Michellee (Green Eggs and Ham)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

_**Prologue: All the Places You'll Go** _

_**Just East of Whoville and South of Meepville, the town known as Stovepipe Junction might catch your eye--w-wait, wait, wait, WAIT A MINUTE!! Hold up! Are we seriously changing the script of this story?! Are we seriously going to change--?! Gah! Nevermind. I'll play your little game, writer. I'll play your little game. Okay, let's start over. Ahem!** _

_**Just East of Whoville and South of Meepville, the town known as Stovepipe Junction might catch your eye. A place where family fun and vacation were encouraged. A place serious competitions were not centered around in any sporting event or even the Olympics. Oh, wait, that's the same thing... anyway! It's a place where serious competitions were centered around...inventions!!** _

In the early dawn of Stovepipe Junction, an isolated 'Snerzco' building stood proudly among the other buildings on a hill. The waiting room within the building was filled with anxious inventors, showing off their crafts with pure delight and joy on their faces. However, there's one Knox who stood out from the other inventors in the waiting room. An orange-furred Knox with a brown clean hat and bright eyes, watching the other inventors laughing amongst themselves while playing with their inventions.

_**In case you all haven't even known the name of that orange-furred Knox over there--you know in the last three seasons, this is Guy...Guy Am I. Although, this Guy Am I appeared to be in better shape than he normally would be...I wonder why that is...hmm, I guess we'll have to find out soon.** _

Guy's wrinkles were gone and his smile was bright in the early morning. He had his briefcase clutched to his chest, not wanting to play with his invention in the early morning. He learned that the hard way from the first time entering the competition that playing with his invention would create some kind of havoc among other inventors and caused damage to both his invention and theirs. Therefore, they would get disqualified in the competition.

Guy's heart felt like it's soaring in the sky of hope when the line decreased with each inventor showing their invention off to the judges. However, there's also a bit of anxiety in him too. What if his invention wasn't good enough? Creative enough? Or maybe it would blow up in his face--? No, he knew he couldn't think like that. Not now when he had succeeded with his inventions in the past. Not now, not today!

_**Well, this Guy is a lot more different than I thought. Seems a lot happier and, get this, his attempts are a big success! Man, Guy is lucky.** _

_**Wanna bet?** _

_**WHO SAID THAT?!** _

Guy finally stood at the doorway where he breathed in and out anxiously. He fidgeted with his hands and holding the briefcase a lot tighter than he realized. The dark blue-furred man at the front desk had his brow raised at him. Guy realized that he's panicking internally in front of the man at the front desk.

"First time?" the man at the front desk ignited the conversation.

"Um...no, actually. I-uh-I had gone through this before," Guy answered while chuckling nervously.

"Then, why are you nervous?"

"I'm not nervous...okay, maybe a little bit. I guess I haven't been to a competition at home before. I heard that Stovepipe Junction judges were quite harsh with their verdicts," Guy uttered with a plastered small grin. "I-uh-did see a couple of people crying because their invention didn't make it through."

The Knox cornered a soft smile on his face. "Well, if you show a bit of confidence, I'm sure that the judges would be softer on their judgments."

"Guy Am I!" Someone called from the next room as a young pink-furred girl sauntered out of the room and passed Guy with tiny tears gushed in her eyes, dragging the invention.

Guy inhaled deeply and exhaled heavily. "Here we go."

He strode into the room with a determined stare up at the judges. He set his briefcase down that he held onto so tightly on the ground and cleared his throat. "Is it hard to remember things?! You forgot where your keys are or where you put your wallet when you are in a rush to get to work in the morning or in the planned evening dinner with somebody special!"

The judges gave brief glances at each other and then back at Guy while leaning forward in their seats, seeming interested in what Guy had to show.

"Well, what if I tell you that there's an easier way to remember things?" Guy replied with enthusiasm in his voice while opening up his briefcase. "What if I tell you that you can use it in the moment of a rush? Now you can, with a self-reminder!"

Guy immediately took out a strange looking machine. It's not heavy to carry around, in fact, anyone could carry it in a purse. The machine was round with a screen in the center of it. It had two orange dials with a meter between that could read minutes, even hours. It's a bit small, which almost didn't impress the judges.

"It may not seem much to you at first," Guy added, noticing how unamused they were. "But, I guarantee you, this little thing will give you a 'self-reminder' of where you put your stuff. May I test this on you, sir?"

Guy pointed at the purple-furred man in a sharp blue suit and pointy nose, wearing an eyeglass over one eye.

The man smiled a bit and gestured Guy to go ahead.

Guy strode up to him and placed the machine beside them. From behind the machine, Guy pulled out a pair of headphones to show to the judges.

"These headphones will have the frequencies going through your brain and help you find what you forgot. It'll only take a second to see what you forgot."

The judges seemed to be interested, anxiety reaching their eyes when Guy placed the headphones on their friend's head.

As Guy turned the dials, he continued with the explanation. "These dials are the minutes and numbers. You could dial back to the last night where you put your stuff or even the last year where you saw your items. So, sir, what did you forget?"

"Um...I haven't even seen my pen since last month. It's a special pen for me and I'm afraid that I lost it or someone else might have found it and kept it," the man answered for Guy.

Guy nodded his head as he dialed the numbers back to last month. "Alright. One of the dials controls the numbers while the other dial controls the minutes, months, and years. Let's see if the self-reminder can help you remember where you place your pen."

The machine came to life as the frequencies dug through the man's brain. The screens began to turn on as it showed a purple hand gripping onto the rare black pen and shoved it in the drawer of the desk that might be the desk where the judges were sitting on.

"What the--?" The man uttered with a gasp and then pulled out the drawer to see his pen in it. "What?!"

The man held up his rare black pen with complete awe of this machine. "This is revolutionary!"

The other judges had their smiles brightened while nodding their heads in agreement.

"Wow!"

"Fascinating!"

Guy smiled while taking the headphones off of the man and set back into the hanger on the back of the machine. He picked up the machine and placed it carefully back in his briefcase.

_**Wait! Wait! Wait for a moment! That thing didn't even blow up! Not while it's in use! Well...I guess...I was expecting a bit of a different outcome.** _

A moment later after the intense invention competition, Guy came home with a golden trophy that was embroidered: "1st place".

As soon as he entered through the front door, a group of kids tackled him in a big hug.

"Hi, Uncle Guy!" One of the kids shouted, who's a young purple-furred girl named Tina.

Guy chuckled among the kids. "You guys should be careful when I carry my inventions around. You might accidentally break it."

"Sorry, Uncle Guy," the kids uttered with a bit of guilt in their voices.

Guy shook it off with a soft smile and messed with one of the kid's hair as he's getting up from the ground. "It's fine. Just for a future reference."

"Hey, look who's home?!" Guy heard a voice booming from the kitchen. Before Guy could see who's shouting at him, a familiar muscular blue-furred man tackled him onto the ground again. Guy yelped in shock as the briefcase flew off of his hand. Luckily, someone behind him caught it. Guy instantly recognized that it's his oldest brother, Dave, who's wearing a red flannel shirt. Both of the men got up with a few laughs on their own.

"Dave, you're home early!" Guy replied excitedly, not expecting his brother to be home so early with both his wife and his children.

Dave chuckled. "Well, we came to see the family for the weekend! I see that you won first place in the invention competition thingy."

"Oh, yeah...wait, where's my--?!" Guy glanced around and immediately recognized Jeffrey, the yellow-furred man who's younger than Guy, holding up his briefcase with a small grin.

"Looking for this, big brother?" Jeffrey questioned as he gave the briefcase back to Guy.

Guy sighed in relief as he retrieved his briefcase from his younger brother. "Thank goodness you caught it."

"Oh gosh! Is your invention fragile?!" Dave gasped, guilty that he tackled Guy.

"Well, it has a screen in it...so, it might easily break if being handled too hard," Guy indicated.

"What is this, anyway?" Jeffrey asked, interested in what's in the briefcase. "It seems lightweight."

"Oh...it's just a small thing called a 'self-reminder'," Guy responded with a giggle.

"Oh, is it that machine where it helps you find something that you're forgetting?!" Dave shouted while being in awe.

"Yeah."

Dave gasped in wonder. "Oh wow!"

"Boys! It's time for dinner!" The boys heard their mother calling them.

"Yes! Eat time!" Dave replied while running to the table with a childish smile.

Guy and Jeffrey followed after Dave, about to enjoy their nice dinner.

~.~

Guy sat at the family dinner table, talking to his parents about his latest invention while showing it off to the rest of the family. The big family had their mouths opened agape with pure shock and fascination.

"Oh wow, Guy!" His mother, who's darkish pink furred woman, awed proudly. "You must have really exceeded those judges' expectations!"

"Yeah, they're usually harsh with their words," Stanley, Guy's other brother with purple fur and a mohawk, added while eating his steak.

"Well, they wouldn't give him a trophy if they're not that impressed with his invention," Todd, Guy's dark blue-furred brother, reminded with a chuckle.

The grandfather, with wild white hair, big round glasses, and reddish-orange fur, nodded his head approvingly. "Well, nothing is going to stop him from succeeding! He's going to do fine in the future."

"Thanks, grandpa," Guy uttered with a soft smile while eating his steak.

However, Guy's father, with purple fur and a blue tie, had his eyes enlarged with concern. "I'm proud of you and all, son...but wouldn't your invention cause some--I don't know...mishaps?"

"What do you mean?" Guy asked with an arched brow.

"Well, frequencies like those that you are using might cause some health damage. Like in the brain," his father cautioned.

"I made sure it's safe. I tested it out before I brought it up for the invention competition. I made sure of that," Guy reassured his father with a soft smile.

"Ooh, cool! What did you forget when you tested it out?" Dave asked while cutting his steak in half for his kids.

_**Guy froze for a moment, trying to think of what he forgot. For some reason, he didn't remember exactly what he forgot. He just remembered testing the machine out and it worked...well, in a weird way. He could've sworn that he had seen one--or maybe two. No, Three strangers! But...he couldn't see their faces and their figures were a bit blurry to see except their heights. One of them appeared to be tall while the two others were short. That was weird. Then, he tested it out on his younger brother, Jeffrey, since Jeffrey did agree that he would be Guy's guinea pig after Guy tried it out to make double sure that it worked for both him and his younger brother. It wasn't being weird when Jeffrey tried it on and it worked still.** _

Guy didn't know how to answer the question so...he just faked a smile. "A screw I was supposed to put in the machine. Without that screw, it would've exploded."

The rest of his family burst out laughing while Guy had a guilty feeling clutching at his chest. However, it's just a small white lie. It's not the big of a deal. But what if that wasn't the case? What if his family will find out that Guy might have forgotten something that they wouldn't understand? No, he shouldn't think those thoughts. Not while he's having dinner with his family. 

~.~

Guy entered his bedroom with a yawn. He set his machine on the wooden dresser while looking into the mirror across from his bed. He took off his red tie and stared at himself for a moment. He didn't recall having wrinkles on his face and his hat crumpled. Maybe his hat had been through a lot since he got tackled by his brother and his nieces and nephews. Guy checked his hat and noticed that it's still standing tall. He arched a brow and glanced back into the mirror to notice that he had fewer wrinkles on his face. He must be tired. He sighed deeply while yawning non-stop and roaming around his room. Guy could've sworn that, in the corner of his eyes, he saw his reflection in the mirror still, watching his every move. He whipped his gaze over at the mirror and approached it to see that his reflection staring back at him. It's nothing.

He sighed again and backed into his bed, pressing his hands against the soft mattress. Guy smiled warmly and laid down in his bed, slowly closing his eyes and letting the darkness embrace him.

_Guy's "Dream":_

_"When I was little, my m̸̠̐ò̸̼m̵͍̃ left me at a--" The short yellow-furred who with white fur from his collarbone to his head and wearing a small red hat uttered sadly--his voice glitching strangely with his sentence interrupted in a glitchy matter. For some reason, Guy found himself inside of his own sheet tent within his own treehouse, with a short stranger sitting right in front of him._

_"Guy! Guy!" Guy heard the other voices shouting but they were muffled from outside of the tent._

_Guy was tempted to get up and check out the other voices but he couldn't move. "Do-Do you remember anything about your paren--?"_

_Within a second, something flashed as the next place where Guy was at was a small diner somewhere. Everything was bright all around as the same small man held down his newspaper that was supposed to be covering his face._

_"I am S̸̠̒ä̶̯́m̷̻̂!" The short man introduced but his voice was muffled and glitchy, so Guy didn't catch that short man's name._

_Another time lapsed in his dream, revealing some kind of a dark place with a woman in a purple beanie and purple dress counting the beans in her jar. She was muttering her counting but he couldn't hear her._

_"Guy! Can you hear me?!" He heard a voice shouting in desperation._

_Guy silenced himself, not sure of where the voice was coming from._

_"Guy! If you can hear me, open your eyes!" He heard the desperate voice again._

_"He's not going to wake up, amigo!" Guy then heard another voice that sounded rough._

_As Guy looked around the empty room that he's placed in suddenly, he kept hearing voices._

_"Guy! Please, wake up, honey!" A woman's voice cried out._

_Guy shifted his focus on a shadowy hooded figure coming towards him slowly. He had no idea who that figure was but it's coming towards him while whispering something incoherently for a moment until it got closer to him._

_"Guy, it's time to wake up! It's time to wake up!" The shadowy figure yelled, with a voice that sounded so much like Guy's._

_Everything glitches around him before feeling a pull from his body. For some reason, he felt his insides burning, almost like there's something moving inside of him._

_Reality:_

Guy gasped heavily while his eyes shot open. He sat up quickly and breathed in and out heavily. He realized instantly that it's a bright morning in Stovepipe Junction and covered his face with his hands. He dropped his hands down on his lap and gazed out of the window where he saw his treehouse standing alone in the backyard.

"Stupid nightmares," Guy growled to himself, rubbing his eyes to wake up. This was every night for Guy except the recent one just made him shiver.

"What do they mean? 'It's time to wake up'?" Guy asked himself, not understanding what his dream was telling him. Or...was it even a dream? It felt real but he didn't know anyone in that dream. That short yellow-furred who with a red hat was in his usual sheet tent in the dream. Guy got up from his bed and strode out of his bedroom. He hurried downstairs and through the backyard to his treehouse.

Guy climbed up to the treehouse through levers and machinery until he approached the door to his treehouse. Through his long-secret handshake, the door prompted open as Guy quickly strode into it. He climbed up the rope to get to the roof of the treehouse. As soon as he climbed onto the roof, he balanced himself on the branches towards the wooden platform that had the blue sheet tent planted with pinwheels surrounding it. He crawled into the tent and gazed around it.

He scooched further into the tent and decided to sit at the opposite side of the tent's entrance. He faced the tent entrance and stared at the small spot where he saw that small man sitting. For some reason, that tiny energetic small stranger appeared in his dream along with the woman in a purple beanie. Why was he seeing them? He didn't know them, they're strangers. There's no way that he would've known them.

"I must be overthinking things," Guy muttered with a huff. His eyes moved his gaze around the tent with no purpose until something caught his eye. He noticed a small white photograph that seemed to be blank. He picked it up and scrutinized the blank photo. There's something written at the top of the photograph in a red pen that reads: -- _Am I's._

The first part seemed to be scribbled out, which raised more questions...how in the world did a blank photograph appear in the sheet tent of his treehouse? Why? And what does it show? Guy took it upon himself to place the photograph in his fur pocket and crawled out of the sheet tent.

~.~

Guy entered back into the kitchen from the back door, noticing his mother and father awake before any other family member.

"Good morning, son," Guy's father chirped, smiling at him.

"Hey, Dad," Guy uttered while plastering a small smile.

"How did you sleep?" His mother asked while cooking purple pancakes on the stove.

Guy pushed the thought of his recurring dreams of strangers aside while picking up a brunkel to distract himself from those thoughts. "I've slept great!"

Another small white lie but it's not like it would matter...would it?

"That's great!" His mother smiled brightly.

"So...is there someplace you gotta be for your next invention competition?" his father inquired, interested.

"No, not really. I might stay at home for a bit."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah." Guy began to flip the brunkel up in the air and catching it, just to play with it for a moment.

"Breakfast is almost ready," his mother announced with a bright grin.

"Okay," Guy responded as he flipped the brunkel up in the air once more. However, for some odd reason, the brunkel stopped flipping in mid-air and he could no longer hear the ticking clock. He stared up at the brunkel with confusion written on his face. He shifted his gaze at his parents, who just froze in position without even moving. Their smiles were still planted on their faces but they're not moving a muscle.

"Mom? Dad?" Guy uttered while waving his hand in front of his father's face to see if his father would react.

Guy twisted his mouth to one side, noticing that he's the only person moving. He turned his head to notice a hooded figure standing near the dining table.

"AAHH!" Guy screamed with his eyes broadened in pure horror. He bolted upstairs to his bedroom to get away from the figure, who's not even chasing him. He slammed the door shut and breathed heavily. He remembered that hooded figure...it's in his dream...was he seeing things? He backed away from the wooden door, not realizing that the figure was just teleported behind him. Guy grabbed a rubber bat to hit the figure while staring intensely at the door.

"That's a rubber bat," The figure spoke up, his voice sounding so much like Guy's. Guy swung his rubber bat at the figure but it went through the cloak and almost hit the screen of his latest invention. He held up the rubber bat at the figure, as the figure raised his hands slowly.

"Who are you?!" Guy shouted angrily, his grip on the rubber bat trembling. "What do you want from me?! What did you just do to my parents?!--"

"I've frozen time," The figure answered calmly. "Nothing happened. Time is just frozen. You need to wake up."

"What are you talking about?! Who are you?!"

The figure paused himself as he pulled back his hood to reveal himself. Guy's eyes widened in pure shock and befuddlement, blinking them to see if what he was seeing was real. It's...it's him! Well, not exactly. His face had wrinkles and his brown hat was crumpled. He seemed a bit gloomy and his orange fur seemed to be dark.

The stranger smiled softly at him. "I'm you, Guy."

Guy shook his head in disbelief. "This-This is not possible. It can't be possible. Not scientifically--wait, wait, wait, you're me?"

The other Guy in a dark cloak nodded his head gently. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time believing this. I mean, you look like me...but how do I know that you're not some shape-shifting figure that pretended to be my worst enemy?"

"Implying that you are your own worst enemy?"

Guy thought back to what he said and then shook his head rapidly. "No-No! I'm not implying that at all! If you are really me, then you would know everything about me!"

"Every single detail," Guy in the dark cloak answered while crossing his arms loosely. "What you are about to do is a stupid test to make sure that I am you."

"Yep. First question, what are my parents' names?"

"Karen and Robert."

Guy widened his eyes. He shook his head to shake off the confusion. "Okay. What are my brothers' names from oldest to youngest--?"

"Dave, Todd, Stanley, and Jeffrey."

Guy furrowed his brow, not realizing what's happening. "Okay...what's my favorite color?"

"Bright blue."

Guy arched a brow further, trying to shake off the shock he had in his face. The cloaked version of him cornered a small smirk.

"Favorite number?"

"Three."

"Favorite food?"

"Purple pancakes."

"Favorite holiday?"

"Christmas."

"Favorite hobby?"

"Inventing."

Guy froze while staring at his other self, who tipped his hat up a bit with a smirk still on his face.

"I told you. I know every detail about you," the other version of Guy, wearing a dark cloak, responded.

Guy pondered up the next question with a sly grin. "Who's my best friend?"

"Sa-" the other version of him stopped himself and frowned.

"I-I don't have a best friend," Guy uttered the answer, noticing the sulky expression on his other-self.

"Not yet."

"What do you mean?"

The other version of Guy lost his frown and gazed at him seriously. "Go to Glurfsburg."

"What? Why?"

The other version of Guy reached into his cloak and pulled out a piece of paper to give to Guy. "For this."

Guy slowly received the paper and scrutinized it for a brief moment. He skimmed the paper to notice what it read:

_"The Biggest Meeting of Your Life!"_

He noticed a symbol of Snerzco with a bright smile on his face. "The biggest meeting of my life?! Am I going to meet Snerz?"

The other version of Guy nodded his head slightly. "Yeah. You'd be famous in his eyes if you come up with something inspiring."

"Inspiring? Hmm." Guy arched a brow at his other-self. "Why am I having the feeling like you have different intentions than what you are explaining to me?"

The other Guy smirked as he slowly circled around Guy. "Let me make you a deal. Pitch your invention at the competition in Glurfsburg. If you succeed, you get to meet Snerz face to face, go home to your family with a big trophy that you had been receiving all these times beforehand, and you don't even have to see me again. But, if you fail--"

"I'll be looked at as a failure?" Guy guessed his other-self.

There's a brief tender pause. The other Guy stopped in his steps while softly gazing down on the wooden floor. He inhaled softly and exhaled slowly while lifting his gaze back up at Guy. "If you fail at the invention competition, meet me at Donna's Diner. I'll explain the rest to you."

"Whoa, wait...what's the rest?"

"Fail and you will get the explanation you needed."

Guy shook his head and began to storm out of his bedroom. "Uh, no. You know what, I'm happy with my life. I'm just going to see my family and--yeah."

As Guy was about to exit out of his room, the other Guy sighed heavily.

"It will explain the nightmares you've been getting every night."

Guy perked his head up with a sharp gasp and turned around to notice that the cloaked version of Guy disappeared without a trace.

Guy blinked his eyes for a moment and then strode back to the kitchen, where he heard a small clatter from the brunkel that was left up in the air while his parents were looking around the room for Guy.

His father noticed Guy entering the kitchen. "Hey, son! Where did you go?"

"You exited out of the kitchen so fast," His mother uttered, concern in her tone. "What happened?"

"Uh...I, um, had no idea," Guy answered meekly, who also wasn't entirely sure what's going on or why this 'other self' told him to leave his family. For what purpose? Guy wasn't sure.

His father mistook his confused face with his sadness and hugged him with compassion.

"It's going to be okay, son," Guy's father uttered.

His mother went to hug him too. "Aww, you look sad."

"I'm fine, guys," Guy responded with a small fake chuckle.

Jeffrey and Dave entered the room, noticing Guy's sulky expression on his face but putting on a fake smile to reassure his parents that everything was alright.

"You okay, little bro?" Dave asked softly.

Guy nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm fine, Dave."

Dave didn't seem convinced as he hugged his little brother, just for the sake of comfort.

Jeffrey smiled softly and joined in the family hug.

The hugs from his family felt warm and it surely did warm Guy's body. As Guy hugged his family back, he began to think about something. He slowly glanced at the piece of paper that was given to him.

_The Biggest Meeting of Your Life._

_**He knew that this was too good to be true. The opportunity was too golden to just pass it up. He already won competitions, so...what's going to be different about this one? It would be different and more intense but it's nothing that Guy couldn't handle. But that means leaving his family after he just told them that he's going to stay. Out of all the places his other-self would want him to go, why Glurfsburg? Was it more than what meets the eye or more than just an invention competition? There's only one way to find out.** _

"I just received a notification that...there's an invention competition happening in Glurfsburg," Guy uttered as he glanced down at his family and broke away from them. "If I'm lucky and I win...I get to meet my idol, Mr. Snerz."

His mother gasped excitedly. "Oh wow, that's so exciting! Are you going there?!"

Guy took a moment to ponder and then nodded his head slightly. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm going there."

"Oh son, that's great and all...but...that's a long trip. Almost across the world," His father cautioned, concern in his tone.

"I'll be safe, Dad. I promise," Guy guaranteed his father.

"Alright," His father replied and hugged Guy again. The family embraced him in a warm hug.

"Good luck with your invention competition," Jeffrey uttered while nuzzling his head against Guy's orange fur.

Guy smiled. "Thank you, Jeffy."

Before Guy could close his eyes, he noticed the figure of his other-self gazing at them softly. He hardened his gaze up at him in determination.

"I see that you made your decision. I knew you would come around. Before you leave...make sure you hug them as tight as you can...you're going to need it," Guy's other-self replied grimly, frowning after he said that. He disappeared into the shadows, as Guy had no idea what his other-self was implying...however, he never saw that his other-self tried his best not to cry when he watched Guy hugged his family.

~.~

Guy waved goodbye to his family at the bus station in StovePipe Junction. He strode through the bus and carried his briefcase with parts of his new invention. He sat down near the back row and waited for the bus to depart, watching his family from out the window, who were waving their goodbyes to him. Guy hugged his briefcase and waved back to his family. As the bus began to drive off to the train station far from his home, he watched his beloved Stovepipe Junction fade from view along with his family. He knew deep down that he's going to come back to them...unless this cloaked version of himself had other plans. No, no...this was simply a hallucination that won't leave him alone unless he goes to Glurfsburg.

He hugged his briefcase tighter and smiled a bit to himself. Success was at hand and he knew that he won't fail. He had succeeded in all of his other invention competitions, what could be different about this one?

Guy had his earplugs, plugged them in his ears, stuck the tip of the cord into the iPod. He scrolled through the songs he felt like listening to. He picked the song out finally with a soft smile on his face. As the song began to play, Guy leaned back against the chair with a content smile on his face.

_"There's no five years_

_There's no ten years_

_Only this_

_Queen of, queen of, queen of queens_

_There's no knife_

_'Cause there's no tension_

_Only this_

_Lucid dream of, dream of dreams_

_All I can do is trust in her_

_Late nights I can see the lust in her_

_Acid rain is a first for her_

_Skies open up, share a cup with her_

_Cracking seals, guilty no appeal_

_Trip down the hill, strawberry fields_

_Are you even real?_

_She said, "tell me how you feel"_

_Are you even real?_

_Are you even real?"_

A few hours passed as Guy was jolted awake by the sunlight shining on his face. He smiled brightly when he noticed that they arrived at the train station near Pineview forest. He excitedly hurried out of the bus as soon as the bus came to a stop and hopped into the train that will take him to Glurfsburg.

_"Well maybe I should study my reflection_

_Best to know_

_How I seem, I seem, I seem_

_I spend the day_

_Dreaming of connection_

_Just to feel_

_How you feel, you feel, you feel_

_All I can do is trust in her_

_Late nights I can see the lust in her  
  
_

_Acid rain is a first for her_

_Skies open up, share a cup with her_

_Cracking seals, guilty, no appeal_

_Trip down the hill, strawberry fields  
  
_

_Are you even real?_

_She said, "tell me how you feel"_

_Are you even real?_

_Are you even real?_

_Dream of connection_

_Tell me how you feel_

_Tell me how you feel_

_Are you even real?_

_Are you even real?"_

As the days passed by on the train, Guy finally came up with something pretty inspiring enough to have its worth in Snerz's eyes. He spent moments after moments measuring and understanding the physics this new invention will have to deal with. 

_"Then she ran_

_Then she ran_

_Then she ran her hands through my imagination_

_Then she ran_

_Then she ran_

_Then she ran her hands through my imagination_

_Dream of connection_

_Tell me how you feel  
  
_

_Tell me how you feel_

_(Are you even real?)_   
  


_Are you even real?"_

**_To Be Continued..._ **


	2. Episode One: Here-ï̶̧̄͐̂͝s̶̨̗̖̼͛̋̑̓ͅͅh̵̞͐͂͐

_**Episode One: Here-ï̶̧̄͐̂͝s̶̨̗̖̼͛̋̑̓ͅͅh̵̞͐͂͐** _

As the sunlight finally appeared, Guy noticed that he's arriving in Glurfsburg, widening a bright smile on his face. He glanced at the blueprint with a nod in approval and folded them gently to place in his briefcase that had his tools to build the inventions and a pack of 'Lucky Screws' that Guy always used when building his invention. He closed his briefcase and exited out of his room that he had been staying in for the past days.

Guy finally approached the streets of Glurfsburg after going through the station. He noticed all of these happy people walking around the town. He lost his bright smile, seeming nervous about the invention itself. Will it be good enough? Inspiring enough? Is the invention worthy of Snerz's attention? No, he breathed in deeply and let out a calm exhale. He put that smile back on and walked forward through the town.

_**For some odd reason, this felt all too familiar. Guy shook the thought out of his head, carrying his briefcase that had the blueprints of his newest invention. He knew that he entered the town full of bright and happy people. Again, something told him that this was all familiar. The buildings, the bright smiles, and the zoo with a rare animal known as...** _

"A chickeraffe?" Guy read the zoo sign as he noticed the group of people touring around the zoo. He didn't think it was a bad idea to see what Glurfsburg was famous for. He toured around the zoo, observing all kinds of different animals and people's fascination with them. He walked through the zoo with pure interest in what it beheld over at the center of the zoo. He finally encountered an exhibit that had a tall cage and a few warning signs, claiming that the creature itself was dangerous.

Guy noticed a young woman ahead of him with bright golden fur. She had dark clothing on that contrasted her fur with a dark blue cap and a black jacket that was wrapped around her waist, showing off her furry skirt. Guy stood alongside her to notice that there's also something familiar about that woman but he shook it off. She was seen taking notes of the features of the chickeraffe in the cage ahead of them.

"What are you writing?" Guy asked her, just igniting the conversation.

The woman jumped and almost dropped her notebook, luckily she saved it from the ground and put it in her pocket. "Oh-uh, nothing! Um...how are you doing?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Um...yeah...totally fine," the woman replied with a nervous laugh.

Guy nodded his head slightly. "Okay. Um, my name is Guy."

"Gluntz!" The woman, Gluntz, extended her hand out as Guy shook it firmly. "Well, welcome to Glurfsburg, stranger! I mean, are you born here or--?"

"Oh no, I, uh, came from Stovepipe Junction," Guy answered with a small smile.

"Cool! Is that where people go for vacation?"

"Yeah, we got plenty of tourists there."

"Ooh! That's so cool!"

"How long have you live here in Glurfsburg?"

"I was born here."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

There's a brief awkward pause as Gluntz sighed a bit. "Well, I got to head back to work. I'll see you later, Guy."

"You too."

Gluntz walked away, feeling a bit uncertain or she might have recognized him too but it wouldn't click. That's what Guy could assume anyway. Gluntz? Gluntz? That name seemed to ring a bell but he had no idea where he knew her from. He shook his thoughts off again and gazed at the chickeraffe, who seemed to roam around the small cage aimlessly. As he stared at the chickeraffe, something inside of him churned. He held his stomach and stumbled while everything around him glitches. His vision was blurry for a quick second and then he snapped back to reality.

"What was that?" Guy muttered the question to himself. He recovered his head and swept his glance at his surroundings, realizing that he might be hallucinating. That's odd, he normally wouldn't hallucinate. Guy sighed deeply to himself and headed out of the Glurfsburg zoo.

~.~

When the evening came, Guy entered his room at the Snerzco motel, filled with awe and wonder while the attendant was trailing behind him.

"You'll be staying here for the week until you can show off the Glurfsburg judges what you invent," The yellow-furred hotel attendant replied with a bright smile on his face and eyes closed.

Guy's spirits were never lifted as high as they were right now. He turned around to face the attendant. "Thank you. So, is it true--um, you get to meet Snerz if you pass the judges' expectations here?"

"Why yes, it is true! That's why it said that you are going to have the 'Biggest Meeting of Your Life'!" The attendant answered with glee.

Guy smiled brightly. "Wow, that must be thrilling!"

"Yes, it is! Remember, by the end of this week, check-outs at noon."

"I got it. Thank you."

"No problem. If you need anything, please contact us."

Guy nodded his head in understanding. "Alright."

"Goodnight, sir."

"Goodnight."

The motel attendant left Guy from where he was standing in the doorway. Guy breathed in deeply to himself and shut the door behind him. He turned around and examined the room. The room, however, was familiar. It had a nice long blue couch with a small quaint kitchen on the other side of the big room. There were no walls to divide the living room and the kitchen and the fireplace was set ablaze controllably. There's a doorway that led into the bedroom and bathroom. He entered the bedroom to notice the large desk at the corner of the room with a window and a big sliding glass door exposing the view of Glurfsburg.

He smiled to himself and stepped close to the window. The moon was full and bright, shining down on the town and stars was barely visible in the early dusk sky. Part of Guy was glad that he let his 'other-self' talk him into it. The view was just amazing. But...he also knew that he had to get back to work. He took out the blueprints that he worked on his way to Glurfsburg.

_**Guy opened his briefcase that was full of tools that he could use to build a new and inspiring machine. What machine, you asked? I think you already know what machine I'm talking about.** _

Guy labeled the blueprint in white chalk called 'Self-Flyer'.

~.~

Three days later, Guy worked through sweat and tears to build himself a new Self-Flyer for the invention meeting, which will take place tomorrow. It's the most ambitious invention that he himself had ever created and his heart felt nothing but pure pride in it. The finishing touch was the 'lucky' screw instilled into the hard center of the glorious silver flying machine, with six arms on both sides, to ensure that it won't 'explode'. It had straps like a backpack and two handles on both sides with buttons on top of them. But he knew he couldn't do it without testing it out first. He had to make sure it would work properly without trouble tomorrow.

Guy gazed outside to make sure that there weren't any storms. Luckily for him, it was a nice beautiful evening with a full moon in the clear starlit sky. He beamed brightly to himself as he hid his new gleaming invention in the briefcase and exited his hotel room. When he walked out the front door of his room, Guy swept his gaze around Glurfsburg, trying to figure out a perfect place to test his flying machine. Then, an idea popped into his head.

"The rooftop should be good," Guy muttered to himself as he made his way up the stairs of the hotel to reach the rooftop of the hotel he's staying at. When he reached the hotel rooftop, there's a pinch of fear in his mind. He never tested out a flying machine before...which was a new territory for him to explore. But his excitement outweighed his anxiety. He set his briefcase down and opened it quickly.

Guy slowly and carefully took out his self-flyer. He strapped it onto his back, his hands gripped around the handlebars. He exhaled slowly and pressed the starting button on top of the right handle with his thumb. The self-flyer rang to life with smoke coming out from behind him. The hands and arms of the self-flyer began to flap up and down, producing enough speed to lift Guy barely off the ground. Guy's body was shaken suddenly, his fear building up as he was lifted off of the ground. But he knew he had to test it before he could just quit now. He breathed in and kept lifting himself up farther from the ground.

Guy's feet lost contact with the ground but when he looked up, he could've sworn that his heart was lighter than a feather. He pressed the buttons to boost himself up through the night sky. At first, his control of the flying machine was a little shaky but he finally gained dominance on his latest invention. His smile brightened while he laughed with pure thrill and joy as he soared across the starlit sky.

Just to show off his life-changing inspiring invention, he flew through the roads of Glurfsburg, dodging all the incoming vehicles. He noticed a couple of people seeing him with wide eyes in awe and mouths opened agape. He, unknowingly, zoomed right by a fox, who's carrying groceries while having his eyes broadened. The fox stared at Guy flying through the night with awe and fascination.

"Michael, stop your daydreaming and help me with these groceries!" A man with yellow fur shouted at the fox in a demanding manner.

"Coming!" The fox, Michael, called back but he couldn't peel his gaze off of Guy's flying contraption and Guy himself.

Guy lifted himself higher away from the streets, unknowingly knocking down the big black cowboy hat off of the big blue fur man. The blue-furred man picked it back up quickly and shot his irritated gaze up at Guy, raising his bushy brow in wondering what he's doing flying that thing around.

Guy did a couple of flips above a residential neighborhood with a thrilling laugh.

Unbeknownst to him, a familiar mother and daughter duo noticed him from outside of the front window of the two-story house.

"Whoa," The daughter, with red long hair in a tight ponytail and wearing a cute pink dress, awed in complete wonder. "That's so cool!"

However, the mother, with brown short hair and a purple beanie, rolled her eyes with a judgmental gaze. "That's really dangerous. Someone could get hurt flying those things."

The mother walked away from the front window and into the living room.

But the little girl stayed by the front window and had her smile widened the more she watched Guy flying through the night. "But it would be so fun to fly those."

"E.B, it's time for bed," The mother called for her daughter.

"Okay, Mom." The little girl, E.B, sighed at the end of her sentence. But then, a smile grew back once she had an idea of what to do tomorrow after her mom leaves for work.

Meanwhile, Guy flew higher towards the sky with a daring smile shown on his face. To test it out, he let go of one of the handles and the machine jiggled a little. He put his hand back on the handle and pressed them forward back to the hotel room. However, when he glanced up to see where he's going, a four-diamond kite zoomed right towards him unexpectedly. Guy screeched in pure panic and dodged roll out of the way just in time. He lost control of his contraption and plummeted towards the ground. Luckily, he caught himself and hovered back up towards the sky before he could crash onto the ground.

"Sorry!" A random familiar voice shouted. As soon as he stood still in mid-air, he turned to notice a random kite just gliding through the sky like it's nothing.

"Ugh, it's just a kite," Guy groaned irritably but he shook it off and flew back to the Snerzco hotel rooftop. However...he never saw a short ninja figure gliding into the Glurfsburg zoo.

~.~

Guy entered back his hotel room, his eyes weary while he carried his briefcase with his self-flyer tucked inside. He set it on the blue couch as he entered his bedroom to take a shower for the big day tomorrow. Although, he wasn't aware that the cloaked version of Guy appeared from thin air in the living room and checked to make sure that Guy was just taking a shower.

The cloaked Guy sighed deeply, a little bit jealous that everything turned around right for the brighter version of him and nothing ever went right for him in his reality. He gazed at the briefcase and examined it for a while. He pursed his chapped lips and pondered for a second, wondering how he's going to convince his 'other self' to come into Donna's Diner...but then he remembered their deal.

But that's impossible...he won't fail unless--

The cloaked version of Guy just suddenly had an idea. The most devious idea that he would swear that he would never do to himself. But the longer he stared at the invention, the more this darker version of Guy liked the devious plot planted in his mind.

~.~

_Guy's "Dream":_

_Guy couldn't help but stare up at the horrifying beast, standing and warbling in front of the blazing fire in the fireplace in his hotel room._

_Guy panted heavily while looking up at the creature in complete fear. "Oh no, this is it. I'm done for. I've lived my last d̸̛̛͙̰͂å̵̘̕̚ÿ̶͉̜̘."_

_The beast suddenly glitched in front of him while squawking happily until that room he's in disappeared along with the beast. Guy was left alone in the dark. He felt drip-drops on his shoulders suddenly and then rain just poured on top of him. Lightning struck beside him, causing him to yelp. He breathed heavily as he felt someone nudging his arm. He shifted his gaze down at the little girl with red hair in a tight long ponytail and wearing a cute pink dress, handing him a glowing half of a mushroom._

_"I have to_ **_r̸̩͛ĕ̷̤̘c̸̼̓͑ö̷͉́͜v̶̡͐̄e̸̡̍͛ͅr̴̝̺̍͛ ̶̰͕̓̚t̷̰̠̐̃h̸͉͑̕o̴̹̯̔s̸͚̍ĕ̴̲ ̴̬̪̌͒b̸̹̗e̶̖͌a̶͜n̴̮̻͋̔s̴̪̹̚_ ** _\--"_

_"What?" Guy asked, not understanding what the little girl was saying but she faded before she could answer further. Guy followed after her until he stumbled into a ditch, twisting his ankle in the process. He collapsed on the ground and looked at his foot to check to make sure it's okay. However, he saw something weird. A line of hooded figures was just staring straight ahead and he happened to be in their view. His eyes enlarged in horror, wanting to run away but he couldn't move a muscle. However, Guy could feel the ground underneath him opening up like quicksand. He glanced down to realize suddenly that the ground was consuming him into the darkness._

_"_ **_H̷̢̲̦͘Ë̶͇́̋Ļ̷̩̈́̉͆P̶̞̊̓̔̚ ̸̫̱̏̒M̸̻͊̊͆È̶͙̤!̸͍̫̤̎̕!̴͕̟̫̔̇!̷̜̩̽͆̎͠!̴̪̥̈́͘͜_ ** _"_

_Guy's insides felt like fire as he fell into the hole opening up and swallowing him into the darkness. His screams were the only thing he heard left._

_Reality:_

Guy gasped while sitting up abruptly from the nightmare on his bed. His eyes snapped open back to reality. He breathed in and out heavily, clutching the tip of his neck floof tightly. Once he swept his gaze around his hotel room, he fell back on his pillows while rubbing his face with his hands. He let out a long exhale and noticed that it's only early afternoon.

"WAIT!" Guy gasped while realizing the one thing that troubled him and glanced at the clock. "Oh no, I've slept in!"

He immediately tumbled out of the bed and put on his red tie along with his straight-up long brown hat. He rushed out of the bedroom and snatched his briefcase that was sitting on the couch. He bolted out of the hotel room while locking the door...unaware that there's a small 'lucky' screw left behind on the gleaming white counter in the kitchen. The 'lucky' screw was mysteriously picked up off of the counter.

~.~

Guy strode through the streets of Glurfsburg towards the Snerzco, passing by walking pedestrians with a panicked gaze up ahead.

"I'm going to be late. I'm going to be late. Excuse me! Sorry, coming through!" Guy politely advanced through the crowd while dodging every walking person either coming towards him or away from him.

_**Why does this feel so familiar? I swear I've done this before.** _

Guy took out the piece of paper given to him with the bold letters about the promise of 'The Biggest Meeting of Your Life'. He knew he's so close to this golden opportunity before he put down the paper and gazed ahead, noticing the Snerzco building with the Z in a bold red glimmering in the light.

"This is it. Whew, I'm right on time," Guy replied with a deep sigh in relief. Good thing the hotel wasn't far from where he's supposed to present. With confidence in his step, he faltered into the puddle that was placed right in the middle of the sidewalk. He quickly jumped out of it, having flashbacks of his nightmares earlier of being sunk into that deep dark hole.

"Oh gosh! Who puts a puddle--?!" His sentence was interrupted when a clipboard was shoved to his face that held the paper, which read: 'Save the Yips' with an adorable picture of the tiny blue yip creature.

"Excuse me, sir." The lady with yellow fur and orange short hair held the clipboard back and had a pen in her hand. "Save the yips?"

"Uh...I'm sorry, I don't have time right now," Guy politely declined while excusing himself and went past her towards the building.

The lady persisted in front of him. "They have the yaps. But we're searching for the cure."

"Look, ma'am, I appreciate your good intentions but I must--"

"Please, sign here," The lady interrupted while pointing her pen to the empty box.

"No, I'm good. Bye." Guy walked past her quickly before she could persist any further. He didn't have time to sign the petition...it's almost like a commitment that he won't be able to do since he's on what they called a 'stairway to success'. By the side of the curb, he noticed a young short pink-furred girl with long brown hair. She's gazing into the puddle, staring into her reflection. Why did he have a gut feeling like he knows her? And why was she sad?

Part of Guy wanted to go up and comfort her but he knew that time was at the essence. If he sees her again after the invention competition, he might be able to comfort her. Maybe. Someone tapped on his shoulder, causing Guy to turn around to the blue-furred man with a bright smile on his face.

"Excuse me, sir, would you mind taking our family photo?" The blue-furred man asked while holding up a camera.

"Um, no, I--" When Guy turned to continue on towards the Snerzco building, the man zoomed in front of him and handed him the camera.

"Thanks!" The man sped back to his family, leaving Guy holding his camera.

"That's not what I--"

"It's the button on top," The man pointed at the camera.

Guy gazed down at the camera, seeing millions of buttons on top. Of course, Guy could guess that the button the man was talking about was the big silver button on the right corner.

 _"Why does this feel familiar?"_ Guy heard his voice in his mind. He shook the thought off of his head and focused on taking the picture.

"Alright, say cheese--"

The family lost their smiles and the man cleared his throat.

"Oh, we're vegan. We, um, don't say cheese," The man explained vaguely and politely.

Guy's brow arched. "Oh."

"You know, soy would be a better term," The man added with a small nervous chuckle.

Guy rolled his eyes to let the awkwardness subside and exhaled deeply. "Alright, say soy."

"Soy!" The family exclaimed with bright smiles.

Guy pressed the big button on the camera and the camera flashed the family.

In an instant, a wave of glitches zoomed through him after the flash. Guy grounded his feet on the concrete, feeling the ground shifting underneath. His pounding headache returned except it got a tiny bit worse. He squeezed his eyes shut until someone took the camera away from his grasp. He snapped his eyes open when he saw the man happily thanking him.

The family left him, unaware of his scared expression on his face. Guy's breathing quickened and his heart pounded harder than his brain. He froze from where he stood, taking in the fact that he's still in Glurfsburg just steps away from glory. But Guy had a million questions racing through his mind. Why were there glitches? Why was he having hallucinations? Why did his insides burn every time something happened? What was the cloaked version of Guy's intention on bringing him here? Why was Glurfsburg such a familiar place? All of those pestering questions bothered him.

Guy then exhaled to calm himself. "I can do this. Maybe if I succeed, this will all go away."

That's the theory Guy thought of...but he wasn't too sure. He strolled into the building, trying to appear as calm and confident as possible. He pressed the button on the elevator, hearing the ringing sound of it going down. The floors were number in a strange way as he heard a motor bringing the elevator down.

The elevator doors open and he strode through it quickly. He sighed deeply in relief until he noticed a woman with short brown hair, a purple beanie, and a purple dress zooming towards the elevator as it was closing.

"Wait! Could you please--?!"

Guy held the elevator door open without hesitation, letting the woman in with her heavy record book in her arms. The doors closed quickly and the elevator lifted both of them up.

"Thank you," The woman uttered with a small relief smile.

"No problem," Guy responded with a nervous grin and rubbing his arm. He glanced at the woman, noticing something familiar about her standing next to him. She's that woman that was shown in the self-reminder invention he created...she's in one of his dreams, counting the beans--the one with a purple beanie and dress. No way, it couldn't be her. It just couldn't be.

Guy cleared his throat. "Are you, um, joining the invention competition?"

The woman perked her head up at him and laughed a little bit nervously. "Oh no, no, that's a dangerous job. I just, um, count the beans."

"Count the beans?" Guy repeated, almost like his sentence was an echo. So, it was true...this woman was counting beans. It's part of her career...but, why was she so important?

"Yeah, it's the safest job in the force and pays a bit more," The woman explained with a soft smile.

"Oh, wow. Interesting," Guy replied, taking interest in the conversation for some reason.

The woman glanced up at him. "What about you? Are you--?"

"Oh, I'm an inventor," Guy responded while scratching the back of his head. "Not the safest job but it's something I love doing."

The woman lost her smile and gazed straight forward at the elevator doors sadly. Guy twisted his mouth, wondering what he said might have offended her. What's so offensive about loving inventing? That he had no idea.

"I-I'm Guy, by the way," Guy introduced while extending his hand to her.

The woman shifted her gaze back at him for a moment, shocked but then, she cornered a small polite smile on the corner of her mouth and extended her hand to grab his. "Um...Michellee."

"Wow, that's a beautiful name," Guy complimented while shaking her hand. However, after he said that, he blushed instantly and madly. He realized this and quickly let go of her hand in embarrassment. "Um, I-I mean, you have a pretty name and--and--"

Michellee giggled a bit at Guy's stuttering. "That's really sweet. Thank you for the compliment."

Guy didn't notice that he had a stupid goofy grin on his face. "Uh...no problem."

The bell from the elevator dinged as the doors open. Guy let her exit out first like a gentleman.

"Well, good luck in the invention competition," Michellee uttered meekly while exiting the elevator.

"Thank you." Guy watched her walk to the side door with the big record book in her arms. For a quick moment, Guy could've sworn that she flicked a gaze at him with her brow arched as she was entering the door, almost like she recognized him but couldn't place it. That's odd.

Guy shook the thought out of his brain and strode up to the clerk at the front desk. "Guy Am I, lifelong inventor, here for the Biggest Meeting of My Life!"

He spoke in such a passion that felt needed to be heard. However, the blue-furred plump lady at the front desk didn't give a yips' butt while clicking her pen consistently in the invisible rhythm.

"That's nice," The lady stated in an unamused tone. "Have a seat...we'll be with you in seven hours."

_"Seven hours? If I realized that I'm going to wait that long...I wouldn't have rushed towards the building...or maybe if I come earlier, I wouldn't have to wait that long."_

Guy heard his thought again...which became bothersome. Before he could ponder deeper into it, a hat float in front of him with helicopter fins carrying it. He smiled wildly when he noticed all the neat inventions.

_**Would you look at that? All of those neat inventions, worthy of Snerz's attention...wait a minute, haven't I said this line before? Whatever. Look at that...there's anti-umbrella!** _

The girl in a yellow and white striped summer dress with dark pink fur and dark black hair opened her umbrella over her that summoned the rain from underneath the invention.

_**Oh, look, over there is a tree stump derooter!** _

Guy saw the huge machine derooting the tree stump from the pot as he walked by all of the inventors in complete odd fascination.

_**And right over there is a narrator muter! I wonder what that--** _

The woman in purple fur and blonde hair started to turn the dial.

_**Wait! I know what it does! Stop--!!** _

The unknown voice was silenced as the lady who invented the anti-umbrella came out of the pouring rain under her invention.

"Yours is a winner for sure!" The lady cheered on the other woman.

Guy heard all of those voices before...for some reason. All of those encouraging voices and cheering for each other. But...there's a pit in his stomach that made him churned, not in a bad way. Well, in a strange way. It's almost like he's a stranger to them. If this was Stovepipe, he wouldn't mind encouraging them and giving them the faith that sometimes he couldn't give to himself. However, he's in Glurfsburg now...full of familiar strangers and faces that he couldn't just place.

He hugged his briefcase tightly while taking a seat at the corner of the waiting room.

"What's your invention?" The yellow furred man with dog ears like Guy's inquired of Guy with a bright smile.

Guy couldn't help but feel like his confidence was fading the more he stayed in this place. "It's, um, nothing special."

"Nothing special, huh? Sounds special."

The man wouldn't know but those words struck him. Not that Guy found any words offensive but...those words seemed familiar.

 _"What are you putting me through?"_ Guy's thought asked while he laid his head against the wall, waiting for the time to speed up quickly.

~.~

_**I knew they were going to mute me! I knew that it was going to happen! Stop putting me through this, writer--?! Wait, aha!!! My glorious voice is back and just in time to meet our other hero! Wait, I've done this before...** _

The short yellow furred who with white fur from his collarbone to the top of his head and wearing a red short hat ambled through the streets of Glurfsburg, carrying his briefcase much like Guy's. He politely greeted them as he was about to walk into the puddle. However, he jerked to a stop as soon as he noticed it.

"Whoa! Nice try, puddle. Not going to catch me today!" The short who replied positively as he hopped over the puddle. He froze for a moment and shrugged carelessly. "Eh, why not." He backflipped into the puddle, swimming it and enjoying every moment of it.

"Sir, save the yips!" He heard the lady calling out with a shocked gasp. He zoomed towards her, his fur soaked from the puddle. The lady yelped in surprise to look at the little who.

"I've heard that they got the yaps. It's just tragic," the who stated sadly and then took the clipboard off of the lady's hands with glee. "Okay, where do I sign it? Can I do it more than once?"

He tipped his red hat to her, leaving her speechless while flipping around her. He took his briefcase happily and went forth through the streets. When she glanced down at the clipboard, she could see that the who signed his name more than once in many slots. And it kept saying: 'Sam I Am' until the last slot read: 'Sam INDEED I Am!'

Sam, the happy who, noticed a family up ahead trying to take a photo. He swooped in and grabbed the camera, letting the lens capture him along with the family. "Family photos. Priceless moments! Say cheese!"

"But we don't say--"

Sam snapped the picture before the man of the family could say anymore. The family and Sam did poses together while doing the goofy stands, pucker faces, and finally, the genuine picture of the family without Sam in it. Sam handed the camera back to the blue-furred man, who grinned happily at the photos taken.

"Hey, what's your name?" The blue-furred man asked the small who.

"I'm Sam, Sam I Am," Sam proclaimed as he did a cute little hop and clapped his feet together to the side. He went forward in his cheerful day. He couldn't help but whistle a tune to this bright and sunny day. However, on the side of the curb, he noticed a sad young pink-furred girl with long brown hair. She's staring at the reflection of herself for some reason, tears edging out of her eyes.

Sam rushed beside her. "Hey!"

The girl jumped with a surprised gasp. She wiped away the tears before Sam could see that she's been crying. "Uh, h-hey."

"Are you doing okay?" Sam asked, tilting his head a bit--not fooled by the way she sat up straight.

"I'm fine...I, um, just had a rough day."

"Oh. I-um-sorry about that," Sam sympathized.

"It's fine...I just--well, it's hard to explain," the girl stuttered, having no words to say without crying in front of the who.

Sam pondered for a second. The minute that the idea popped into his cheerful brain, the minute his face lit up like a light. "I have an idea that will cheer you up!"

"R-Really?"

"Yeah! Come with me!" Sam excitedly guided her on her feet, letting her smile at him softly. He led her through the streets of Glurfsburg with a bright beam on his youthful face.

Unbeknownst to both of them, the fox sprinted through the streets with the group of gang members chasing him.

"Hey, get back here!" One of the gang members shouted.

The fox sprinted down the dark alleyway, trying to outrun the gang until he came across a dead end with walls closing in. Before he could ponder a way out, the gang members arrived just in time to corner him. The fox had nowhere else to flee.

"Give us back that ruby, punk!" The leader of the gang commanded as they closed in on the fox.

The fox stepped back away from them and his back touched the wall. "Look man, I found it on the floor. It's finder's keepers."

"You didn't find it on the floor. You took it out of my pocket, thief!" the leader yelled at the fox and grabbed him by the fur on his chest.

"Well, no, it just fell out of your pocket. I saw it!" the fox argued with the leader.

The leader became furious. "That's it! You're dead, fox!"

When the leader raised his fist up, the fox closed his eyes, turned his head away, and wait for the beating to commence.

"Is there a problem here?" A smooth rugged voice came from behind the gang.

The fox opened his eyes back up and perked his head to notice an old goat approaching the scene with a straw in his mouth. The gang members turned to look at the goat and laughed their heads off.

"Yeah! We got a problem! Your existence!" The leader snarled at the goat.

The fox tilted his head. "Aw, that's not very nice."

"Shut it, you dumb fox!" The leader barked at the fox. "We're not done with you yet!"

The fox furrowed his brows. "I told you that I found it on the floor!"

"Then, why did you run away?!"

"I didn't know you were going after the ruby!" The fox shouted defensively.

"Hey!" The goat inserted himself into the conflict. "The fox said that he found it on the floor. There has to be a way--."

"Take a hike, sheep!" The leader snapped with gritted teeth.

The goat growled with his eyes shimmering in anger. "Who are you calling sheep?!"

"Uh oh, now you made him angry," The fox muttered underneath his breath. "I don't think that's a good sign."

"Shut it, fox!" The leader yelled while socking him in the face.

The fox recovered from the hit, his eyes went wide when he glanced behind the leader of the gang.

"Now, hand me that ruby, or I'll put a bullet in your skull!" The leader threatened but noticed the fox staring at something behind him while his mouth was slightly open agape. "What are you staring at?!"

The leader turned his head to look behind him just in time to felt something cold and metal on his forehead. The goat held a pistol that he took from the leader with a piercing glare that gave the leader chills in his spine. Behind the goat, his men were laying on the ground and unconscious.

"We can do this the easy way or we can do it the hard way, amigo," The goat growled lowly, flicking his ears to show hostility.

"W-What's the easy way?" The leader stuttered on the question, now scared in his tone. This caused the fox to smile in relief at the goat.

"The easy way is you letting go of the fox and walk out of this alleyway. The hard way--" The goat cocked his pistol with a smug smirk. "Well, either way, you're going to let go of the fox. The only difference is whether you'll get out of this alleyway alive or not. Now...which will you choose, compadre?"

There's a distant pause as the fox snuck in a steal from the leader's pocket and snatched his wallet discreetly. The leader sighed and let go of the fox's fur on his chest. The fox rubbed the dirt off his chest while backing up against the wall.

"Good choice," The goat responded with his smirk widening. "Now, scram."

The leader of the gang scurried out of the alleyway while leaving his two other men behind, still unconscious.

The fox chuckled to himself. "Ha, scardy cat."

"You didn't really find the ruby on the floor, did you?" the goat asked while turning his head to glance at the fox.

The fox widened his eyes while rubbing his hands together nervously. "Uh...well, I mean--I--"

"It doesn't matter. You should be careful who you steal things from," the goat replied with caution in his tone as he turned back around and exiting out of the alleyway. "There are some people that you don't want to mess with."

The fox stumbled to catch up with the goat and exited the alleyway with him. "Y-Yeah, I'll be careful next time. Say, what's your name?"

"Goat," the goat answered simply.

"Just...Goat?"

"Yeah."

"Like don't you have a significant first name like John Goat or something--?"

"Goat is fine," The goat, Goat, responded while flicking his ears in irritation.

The fox twitched his ears a bit. "Alright...I hope I can find you in the field of goats with that name."

"First of all, I'll stand out of the crowd. Thank you very much. Second of all, how do you even know you'll see me again? I journey alone," Goat responded with a gruff.

"Well, in case I ever ran into you again," The fox uttered an answer.

Goat flicked his ears. "Well, it might be never."

"Michael!" The fox heard someone calling him from behind him with clenched teeth in anxiety.

Goat tilted his head. "Michael?"

"Yeah, that's my-um-boss calling me. I'll see you later, Goat," The fox, Michael, replied as he waved goodbye and quickly ran back to whoever was calling him.

Goat watched the fox approaching his 'boss' with the yellow fur, smacking him upside of the head for running off. Goat felt the sudden urge to protect the fox from his boss but...he had a mission he knew he couldn't mess up. And he had no idea what effect it will take place if he doesn't do it. 

~.~

"Guy Am I," the lady called out his name in the most boring tone while clicking her pen. "Guy Am I?"

Guy snored lightly, falling asleep on the green couch in the waiting room of the Snerzco.

"Is there a Guy Am I?" The lady called loudly but Guy was still fast asleep.

_**Psst, Guy, she's calling you! Sorry, guys, he's been sleeping for what felt like seven hours...actually...it's more like three hours just went by. Hmm, strange.** _

The lady noticed Guy sleeping on the couch with a low groan in annoyance. She grabbed a megaphone from underneath her desk and cleared her throat. "IS THERE A GUY AM I?!?"

Guy yelped while jumping abruptly from being startled by a loud shout, clutching his briefcase. "I'm up! I'm up!"

The lady sighed deeply as she put her megaphone back underneath the desk. "They're expecting you now."

"Finally," Guy replied while huffing. He stood up from the couch, hugging his briefcase tighter given to the fact that he almost dropped it from pure shock. He stared at the door, finally getting back to reality with a small unsure frown.

"Lose the frown, kid," The lady stated gently, causing Guy to look at her. "They're just a bunch of bean counters and pencil pushers."

With that said, the lady pushed the button and the door automatically prompted open in front of him. Guy took a deep breath in and let out a quick exhale before stepping through a hallway. The hallway had glass panel windows on one side, letting the afternoon sunshine through. As he walked through the long hallway towards the door ahead of him, he looked to the one side where there were literal bean counters counting their beans and entering their counts for each bean they counted. When he looked to the other side towards the windows, he saw the buff men's intense focus on pushing the pencils up to the light, letting it flash green.

_"What was the point in that? They're just pushing pencils."_

Guy heard his own thought again while groaning deeply to himself.

_"Why am I hearing my own inner thoughts...? What's going on with me?"_

Guy continued to look around the hallway he's walking through as his brow raised in slight confusion.

_"There's something familiar about this hall...I don't know what it is."_

Guy finally entered the room where the honchos, also known as the judges of Glurfsburg, sat upright and their gazes were narrowed and focused on him and him only.

It's time. Time to make something inspirational. This was his moment of success. Just a foot away from the finished line.

Guy took a deep breath and muttered underneath his breath. "I got this."

Suddenly, he heard someone's familiar voice counting the beans. He turned his head to notice Michellee counting the beans without paying attention until she glanced up to notice him. He waved at her slightly with a faint grin while she exchanged a soft gentle smile back at him and a wave.

"Flirting with the bean counter?" The female honcho sternly spoke up, causing Guy to flick his glance up at her with his pupils shrunk and his cheeks flustered.

"Ah-no, no, no, I-um-I was-um--"

Michellee quietly giggled to herself, which he didn't notice.

_"Stop stuttering, you idiot!"_

After hearing his harsh thought, Guy cleared his throat. "I'm here to present to you, your invention. I-I-I mean, my invention."

"Yeah, no duh," The other honcho, who's a yellow-furred man, growled while rolling his eyes at the inventor.

"That's what you're here for," The female honcho added with a stern gaze at him.

"Dazzle us," the other male honcho replied with a gesture for Guy to take the stage.

Guy took a deep breath in and out and set his briefcase down in front of him. He cleared his throat, gaining some bit of confidence. "Isn't traveling the worst? You're stuck on the cold air balloon. All of those strangers pestering you, yacking at you, never letting you stew in peace. Stuck at the mercy of those around you as the last bus pulls away."

Guy noticed, out of the corner of his eyes, that Michellee was leaning forward a bit while the two other men holding the pillows saw this. One of them held out a bean for Michellee to count and nudged her arm a bit. She flicked a glance at him and then tried to remember where she left off counting.

"Well," Guy continued, sounding like a positive businessman. "What if I tell you that you can go where you want to, whenever you want to, entirely on your own? Now you can, with the self-flyer!"

With that said, Guy opened his briefcase and held out his glimmering self-flyer for all to see. He earned approving smiles and awed expressions from everyone in the room except one.

"Whoa, wait...i-is it safe for kids?" Michellee stuttered while arching a brow and pointing at the self-flyer.

Guy never really considered this machine to be used for kids but that's an excellent question that could only lead to uncertainty. "Well, I haven't thought about kids...I could tell you that it's safe to ride on for adults, as I will show in the demonstration."

He gulped a bit to himself but tried to appear confident in front of everyone, including Michellee. However, his gut feeling indicated that Michellee's not convinced at all by his bravado.

~.~

Michellee's stomach was doing flips while watching Guy putting his self-flyer on. She couldn't do anything but worry for him, however, she only just met him. That seemed odd to be feeling this way for a stranger that she just met. All the other inventors seemed bland and boring, well in their personalities of carrying those fake smiles. They each passed by without giving attention to how tense their inventions were. Heck, most of them were safe. The only invention that may be hazardous was Guy's self-flyer.

She's on the edge of her seat, her brows sweating a bit from the heat in the room and the intensity of many outcomes rushing through her head.

Guy pressed the button on his handle and the machine beeped and lights flickered on. The smoke sprouted from behind as the machine lifted him off the ground.

Michellee seemed slightly amazed at how calm he appeared, even if she put the puzzle pieces together that she remembered seeing him last night, flying that contraption.

Guy, on the other hand, didn't notice Michellee's amazement but saw the judges awed expressions.

"Wowzers!" one of them blurted out as he decided to show off his invention. His confidence and pride were back as he flew around the office, showing off his smug smirk with Michellee noticing it.

As he's about to make his landing, the honchos made their final decision.

"You're going to Meepville!" The female honcho shouted excitedly. "We'll see you on Snerzday!"

Guy's smile was wide from ear to ear when the white-gloved hand held out the golden ticket to his way to meet Snerz.

_**Guy felt fantastic! He'd won! He'd invented a thing-a-ma-do that had done!** _

Out of the corner of Guy's eyes, he noticed a cloaked figure of himself watching with a smug smirk while holding his three fingers in counting down.

_3-2-1._

The machine started to clank as it began to malfunction.

"Whoa--" Guy tried to hold on and turned it off but the machine kept flying around, creaking and shaking all around the room.

Michellee ducked underneath her desk with full panic.

As he flew over to the honchos, they all ducked their heads to let him pass by without hitting anyone. The machine then slammed Guy against the wooden floor in front of the judges a couple of times and then twists and turns. Then it pushed him up in the air and turned him upside down for a still moment before--

_KABOOM!_

The invention exploded in the room. Guy took most of the impact as he laid on the wooden floor, groaning in pain as he noticed that he's surrounded by parts of his invention that he worked on. This just left him baffled. He worked on it, he made sure that it won't explode...why would it explode now and not last night? The hands from his invention clapped sarcastically before it blew up in front of his face.

"Whoa," One of the male honchos gasped as Guy glanced up just in time to see their shocked faces with burnt up hair and clothes. It affected everyone in the room except for one.

"Oh gosh! Are you okay?" Michellee asked quickly with worry.

Guy turned his head and smiled sheepishly at her. "Uh...yeah...peachy."

Guy held the 'ok' sign until his arm stung from the sudden crash. He stretched his arm until he popped it as if he dislocated his shoulder for a moment.

Michellee seemed worried still as the golden ticket was turned to ashes right in front of him. The hand that held the ticket showed a thumbs down as the alarm beeped, indicating that he's disqualified.

Guy had his eyes bulged out in complete shock. He quickly gathered the parts of his machine and stuffed them in his briefcase. He glanced up at the judges with an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm sorry for what happened," Guy apologized to the judges, who just gave him a stern glare. He then turned to Michellee, who still held that concern expression. He frowned and exited the room.

_**Oh, dear...I mean I was expecting the explosion to happen but...I didn't expect the outcome of it. Usually, Michellee would criticize something dangerous with her nose wrinkled up like she smelled something smelly. However, in this reality, she didn't seem judgmental at all...but grew worrisome.** _

"That poor Guy," _**Michellee muttered to herself.**_ "I was really hoping he'd make it. But just thinking about that machine just...gave me the fuzzles. I don't want my daughter to go anywhere near it."

Michellee held up a picture of her daughter with red long hair in a tight ponytail and wearing a pink little dress. She caressed the wooden frame with a soft motherly smile. "E.B is so fragile."

~.~

E.B, the young ten-year-old red-headed girl, leaned out of the bedroom window of her two-story house with a fishing pole she built herself and a stuffed cheese bamboo at the end of the line.

_**E.B's not so fragile...as you have obviously seen multiple times.** _

_**"No Pets allowed," her mother said once, on top of other rules that E.B had to live by. However, E.B doesn't listen to her mother as she attempted to lure a panda-dog from her neighbor's yard. Why?** _

"A pet would be awesome to have around!" E.B muttered to herself.

_**Oh, I thought you're going to say something generic.** _

The panda-dog noticed the cheese stuff bamboo while snatching its teeth. The weight of the animal pulled her down slightly while using her arm strength to pull him up. However, the rope holding her snapped and flung her back into her room with the line snapped off and the panda-dog enjoying his free meal of cheesy bamboo.

E.B flew onto the banister and slid all the way downstairs, her butt landed on the floor in between the old lady, who's supposed to be her babysitter, and the television.

"Don't worry, dear," The old lady stated, her eyes closed. "I won't tell your mother anything."

E.B sighed in relief. "Thank you, Mrs. McGriesal--"

"As long as you buy me a car," The old lady continued.

"What?"

"I want it red with flames on the side."

There's a brief awkward silence.

"You know that I'm only ten, right?" E.B uttered while hearing a horn from outside. She smiled brightly and opened her front curtains to see her yellow-furred friend from school, who's the same age as her, riding an ococyle in front of her house.

"Hey, E.B!" Her friend greeted brightly.

"Hey, Theo!" E.B waved to her friend.

"Do you have an ococyle?!" Theo, her friend, asked excitedly with a beam.

"No...Mom never got me one," E.B responded sadly. "She said it's too dangerous."

"Ouch."

"Yeah."

"Hey! You can ride on my handlebars! We'll still have some fun!"

"But she checked my brows to check for any whimsey or acceleration--"

"Come on, just one ride. I promised that we'll be back home before your mother gets back from work," Theo urged innocently, almost pleading in his tone.

E.B pondered for a moment but then smiled mischievously. "Wait right there!"

Her friend did as she instructed as E.B noticed her babysitter sleeping on the couch of the living room. She knew she couldn't go out of the front door since she doesn't have the spare key and her mother would notice her gone if she found out the door was unlocked. So, she snuck into her bedroom and climbed out of her bedroom window. Surely her mother won't notice that. She hopped over the fence that led into her front yard and approached her friend, who's smiling from ear to ear.

"Come on, let's go!" E.B replied as she climbed up on the handlebars of the ococyle.

"Yeah!" Theo shouted as he pedaled away from her house and through her neighborhood, unknowingly near a zoo that held the rarest chickeraffe of all time.

"This is so much fun!!!" E.B shouted with pure joy while Theo hollered and rode all around the neighborhood. The little girl felt like she's flying through the streets despite not having something to ride along with her friend.

"Aren't we going to the zoo? Check out the animals?" E.B inquired her friend, finding someplace to go.

Theo frowned while he glanced up at E.B. "Didn't you hear? They were going to close down the zoo."

"What?! Why?!" E.B gasped in shock.

"Well, they said that the chickeraffe escaped."

E.B took a moment to ponder this. "Hmm."

"What?"

"Oh, I was just thinking."

As they were riding down the street, a dark red car zoomed right by them. It scared both of the kids for a moment. However, the young girl noticed something strange on the license plate of the vehicle.

_B.A.D.G.U.Y.S._

E.B became puzzled by this as Theo tilted his head in curiosity.

"Bad guys? What does that mean?" Theo probed but it's mostly to himself.

"Let's go find out!" E.B piped up excitedly.

"What? That can be dangerous--"

"Come on! It's good to get out of this boring old neighborhood!" E.B persuaded with adventure in her tone.

Theo shrugged. "Alright."

The kids followed the car discreetly as the car was heading towards the zoo.

~.~

The car pulled up in front of the zoo as a piece of rock music was turned on. Within the car, there was the big blue-furred man with a black cowboy hat on. He put on his dark sunglasses, letting it shimmer in the sunlight. Sitting on the passenger seat was a familiar young yellow-furred woman wearing dark gloves that extended towards her elbows and a black jacket. Both of them got out of the car, not knowing that both E.B and Theo were spying on them from the dark alleyway.

The zookeeper was just closing the zoo down due to the missing chickeraffe mentioned earlier.

"Greetings, we would like some information about the missing chickeraffe," The big blue furred man greeted with a low grumbling voice.

The zookeeper sighed heavily and turned towards them without even looking at them. "I told you cops everything I know-"

"Eh-eh," the man interrupted with a net gun in his grasp. "We're not the cops. We're the B.A.D.G.U.Y.S."

The yellow-furred woman popped up behind the blue-furred man. "Yeah, it's even in our title card. Check it out!"

She handed him their business card that had their names in bold red letters.

"Sweet font, huh?" The girl continued on excitedly.

The zookeeper raised a brow. "You have cards?"

The man pulled out his net gun and shot a net at the zookeeper, which scared him.

In the next moment, the woman held the net pole over the large slapping turtles exhibit in the zoo, who were cracking their knuckles like they were ready to punch a helpless zookeeper to death.

The zookeeper was tangled up in the net, his knees shaking in absolute fear. "Oh no, D-don't hurt me, I-I-I'll tell you anything!"

"Where's the chickeraffe?" the blue-furred man asked sternly, his arms behind his back while watching over his rookie partner.

"You better talk fast! This pole is getting really heavy!" His partner responded while gritting her teeth.

"I-I don't know where the chickeraffe is! It escaped! It-It ran away!" The zookeeper yelped in panic.

"He's a liar!" The woman shouted aggressively. Then she glanced up at her partner with sparkles in her eyes and in a begging tone. "Please, McWinkle, can I drop him? Please?"

McWinkle, the blue-furred man, sternly gazed at his partner. "Gluntz, if the man were a liar, his pants would be on fire. Those are clearly just scardy pants." He then turned to the zookeeper tangled up in the net. "Tell me, coward, did you find anything unusual at the scene?"

"Unusual?" The zookeeper repeated the question while pondering about the details. "I-I mean nothing unusual...just a kite, a snorkel, and a pole vault pole."

McWinkle glanced at his partner, Gluntz. "Let him go."

Before Gluntz was about to drop the zookeeper into the exhibit of slapping turtles, McWinkle moved her arms over to the land next to them.

"Not in there," McWinkle corrected her sternly.

Gluntz chuckled nervously. "Oops, my bad."

They untangled the net so the zookeeper could scamper off with fear in his eyes.

McWinkle rolled his eyes as he and his partner were exiting the zoo. "You know, after this job, we should really change our name. I think it confused a lot of people."

"I thought our names are spectacular!" Gluntz replied excitedly while nudging on McWinkle's arm.

"I mean for our business, Gluntz."

"Oh...well, I still think it's a great name!"

"Well...for a business standpoint, sure. But...the acronym--?"

"Oh...I see what you mean. I think it just shows how serious we are."

"Well, we're serious. But not scary." McWinkle prompted the driver's side door open as Gluntz slid over the car like a cool action star and swung herself through the open passenger window. McWinkle sat on the driver's side.

"Hey, may I just say, sir, that this hunt is getting sick!" Gluntz yelped excitedly. "Like I'm getting jacked right now!" She showed off her muscles to her partner.

"This is no escape by the looks of this," McWinkle predicted, ignoring Gluntz's excitement. "This looks like someone took the animal. He's our target. We get the animal and we deliver it to the Big Man."

"Who's the Big Man?" Both of the B.A.D.G.U.Y.S heard a childlike voice and turned their heads to notice E.B and Theo staring up at them innocently.

"Oh my gosh! You guys are so cute!" Gluntz began to squeal as if she saw a couple of cute family ducks waddling across the street.

McWinkle noticed the confused looks on the children's faces as he lowered his glasses to show his gentle eyes. "Don't mind her. She likes kids."

"Uh-huh," Theo responded, intimidated of them.

However, E.B didn't seem afraid of them. "Who's the Big Man?"

McWinkle raised his glasses to hide his eyes. "That information is classified."

"Why are you called the Bad guys?"

"You asked too many questions. Why don't you guys go home before any of your parents worry about you, huh?"

E.B broadened her eyes. "Crap! Mom!"

"Yeah, we better go!" Theo replied loudly as both of the children climbed on one ococycle and drove away from them.

"Aww, they're so adorable," Gluntz cooed as McWinkle eyed the children suspiciously.

~.~

Michellee unlocked the door to her house while carrying her record book. "E.B, I'm home!"

The babysitter, Mrs. McGriesal, woke up from her nap on the couch. She cleared her throat. "Your daughter owes me a car. It's going to be red with flames on the side."

"Oh...thank you for the information, Mrs. McGriesal," Michellee uttered without believing an ounce of the word the old woman was saying.

Mrs. McGriesal got up from her seat and walked out of the house. E.B slid on the banister downstairs to greet her mother.

"Hi, Mom!" E.B grinned innocently, showing off her pearly white teeth.

Michellee noticed E.B greeting her. "There's the bean that counts most of all."

Michellee hugged E.B tightly but something was off. She examined her daughter's face.

"I detect a slight hint of whimsy," Michellee uttered as she rubbed her daughter's cheeks. She gazed into her daughter's face a little longer with a small smile. "I'll allow it."

She planted a kiss on her daughter's forehead and walked away to put away her heavy record book.

E.B sighed in relief.

"So, do you want to hear something exciting today?" Michellee asked her daughter with a bit of excitement.

"Beans?" E.B uttered a question.

"Oh no, no. Do you remember someone flying that dangerous contraption last night?"

"Oh yeah, I remembered!"

"Well, I met him today in the inventor's competition."

"Oh wow! Is he nice?"

Michellee blushed slightly. "W-Well, he is nice and-and--"

E.B noticed her mother stuttering, trying to think of the words. She smirked. "You like him."

"What? No, no, we just met."

"You do! You totally have a crush on him!"

"No...that Guy...man...is dangerous. He invented a dangerous contraption that exploded within in the room where I was counting beans in."

"Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah. I felt kind of bad for him though because--"

"Because you like him."

"No, Elanabeth," Michellee replied sternly as her daughter giggled. Then she frowned. "You know why I'm not dating right now, right?"

E.B. frowned at the thought. "Because you can't lose someone the same way you lost Dad."

Michellee nodded her head sadly. "Yeah. Right. That's why I don't want you to go outside when I'm gone. Somebody could kidnap you or you could get hurt by someone."

"Yeah. I know."

Michellee then skipped a subject by softly smiling at her daughter. "So, who's ready for our trip to Meepville?"

"Why are we going?" E.B groaned a bit in irritation.

"It's a business trip. I don't want you home alone all by yourself. You know Mrs. McGriesal couldn't watch you all month long while I'm gone. She has her husband to take care of," Michellee indicated while E.B tilted her head.

"But I'm ten."

"Indicating?"

"That I'm old enough to take care of myself," E.B replied while crossing her arms.

"Honey, I know that you want to grow up but...there's going to be things you'll miss as a child. Come on, we'll make it mother and daughter time. You and I hardly spend time together," Michellee uttered while cupping her daughter's face.

E.B sighed deeply. "Alright...I'll go with you to your boring business trip."

"Yay!" Michellee hugged her daughter and then broke apart to get something out of her purse. "Since the big city is going to be dangerous, I bought one of these." She grabbed her daughter's wrist and snapped a bracelet on her with a giggle. "They're friendship bracelets."

She put the bracelet on herself as E.B tried to bite hers off. Michellee pressed the heart in the center of the bracelet, letting the magnets do their magic. E.B's bracelet was stuck on hers.

"Genuine Friendship!" The bracelets shouted with a colorful noise after the statement.

"See?" Michellee showed with E.B groaning deeply as Michellee walked around the house, dragging her daughter on the floor. "We can stick close together, like friends."

"I'm going to regret going on this trip," E.B mumbled underneath her breath.

~.~

_**Guy dragged his briefcase with his broken invention inside, puzzled. It should've worked. It could've worked. Why didn't it work? The questions kept pounding his head.** _

Guy arrived at the bus station, going back to Stovepipe Junction. He didn't know how he's going to face his family. Will they be disappointed? Will they think less of him? However, before he could order a ticket for the bus, there's something written on the window in black ink that read: _"Remember our deal."_

Guy gasped from the instant reminder as the man came to the front desk.

"How can I help you today, sir?" The man asked, droning a bit.

"Uh--Could you tell me where Donna's Diner is?" Guy inquired.

The man relaxed his eyes as he pointed to the left of him. "A couple of blocks that way. You won't miss it."

"Thank you, sir." Guy strode out of the bus station and on his way to find Donna's Diner. Luckily, it wasn't too far from where he was. It's a small quaint place with small windows and a cute ramp that was easy to walk on. He pushed through the door and entered the diner.

"Welcome to our diner, diner," A warm Southern accent welcomed him. He glanced up just in time to notice the purple furred woman with her reddish-orange hair in a bun and a blue dress.

Guy glanced around the small diner to notice his cloaked version of himself, who waved at him from the front counter with a small smirk and drinking a pink smoothie. Guy raised his brow as he glanced back at the woman, who also had her brow raised.

"Do-Do you see him over there?" Guy asked, his hand covering the side of his face while pointing with his finger on the other hand at the cloaked figure.

The waitress turned her head to look at the cloaked figure slurping up a cherry smoothie. She seemed unphased with her gaze set back to Guy.

"Yer the only person here, honey," The waitress answered with a tiny shrug. She moved on towards the kitchen while Guy glanced at the cloaked figure with broadened eyes. The figure gestured him to a stool next to him. Guy took a deep breath.

_"What did I get myself into?"_

After that questioning thought, Guy sat next to the cloaked version of him.

"How come she doesn't see you?" Guy asked the cloaked version of Guy in a hushed tone.

"I'm invisible to everyone, duh," The cloak version of Guy responded while drinking his cherry smoothie. "Smoothie?"

"No thanks. So, why take me here? You said you have the answer to my nightmares--"

The waitress interrupted them while bringing over a menu to show Guy. "Apps are over here."

"Uh--well, I'll order a--"

A slurping sound interrupted his order when Guy shot a withering glare at the cloaked version of himself. He sighed deeply.

"I'll just have plain purple pancakes," Guy finished his order.

"Are you sure you don't want anything on it, honey?" The waitress persisted.

"No, thank you. I'm fine."

The waitress blew her purple bubblegum and stuck the order on it. "Plain purple pancakes!"

"Coming up!" He heard the chef shouting from the kitchen as a hand popped the bubblegum and took the order. The waitress walked over to the cashier, not paying attention to Guy.

"Alright, back to my original question," Guy continued to talk with the cloaked version of himself with a whisper. "Why take me here?"

The cloaked version of Guy leaned forward with eying on the waitress and then back at Guy. "I can't tell you much but I can tell you that this place is the root of your adventure."

Guy furrowed his brow. "I just failed at the invention competition...I had no idea why I failed or how...I mean, I tested it out last night and it worked fine--"

The cloaked version of Guy pulled out a screw, interrupting Guy's sentence.

"The lucky screw...I-I could've sworn it's in there," Guy uttered while tilting his head in confusion. 

"It's not...that's why it failed," Guy in the cloak remarked with a hidden smirk.

Guy stared down at the counter. "I know that I don't forget that easy to put the screw in. Unless--" He then glanced up at the cloaked version of Guy. "Wait for a second...you-you took it out."

The cloaked version of Guy just smiled. "I knew you'd catch up."

"W-What?!" Guy shouted in the diner, not aware that he drew attention to himself by the waitress. "You took the screw out! That's cheating!"

"You might want to keep your tone down," The cloaked Guy pointed at the waitress staring at them weirdly.

She had her eyes widened as she turned her head away from them, acting like she didn't hear anything out of the ordinary.

"Look," The cloaked Guy continued, catching Guy's attention. "The reason why I did that because you would've won easily. I decided to even the odds. Besides, you won too many times. You need to fail every once in a while."

"Says the guy who blew up my invention," Guy growled lowly. "Do you know how embarrassing I just felt in front of the judges? If you're me, you would've understood."

"Do you seriously think that I don't know? I know how embarrassing it is to fail but I did it so that you can be here. It's important that you're here right now."

"Why? Why is it so darn important for me to be here?"

The cloaked Guy was about to answer right away but something stopped him. He sighed deeply and took a sip of his cherry smoothie, shifting his attention to Guy. "The first man who will walk through that door will be your best friend."

Guy chuckled darkly. "Oh great. A riddle."

"It's not a riddle. It's a simple answer to why you're here."

"You called that a simple answer? You said something about having the answers to my nightmares. You think a 'best friend' will have that answer for me?"

"He might not know it but I'm sure your memories will come back once you see him."

"What memories?" Guy growled his question at the cloaked version of himself.

The bell rang to indicate someone entered the diner as Guy shot a glance at who was entering. It's a short who with yellow fur and white fur from his collarbone to the top of his head and wearing a red hat. A pink-furred girl followed behind him, which Guy was familiar with since she's the one who looked depressed when he passed by her this morning.

"Afternoon, Donna," The who spoke to the waitress with a bright smile. "Love what you've done with your fur."

The waitress, Donna, giggled at the presence of the short who. "Oh, you. It's the same as it always is."

The short who slowly turned his head to look at Guy and then gasped dramatically. Guy immediately became confused as to why the who was gasping so dramatically with eyes broadened like he saw his celebrity star. The who gasped again, confusing the girl next to him as well. And then, he inhaled deeply one more time as he brightly smiled at Guy.

"Oh wow! Look at this, Gabriella!" The who shouted childishly and placed his briefcase beside Guy's. "We're briefcase buddies!"

This all felt too familiar with Guy for some reason, his brow raised in utter befuddlement.

"It's like--" The who continued while playing with his fingers. "Finding a matching snowflake."

"It's-It's an unremarkable attache sold in most major stores," Guy stuttered, his heart racing for some reason. Why did he have this feeling like he said this before?

"And we both bought it!" The who added excitedly as he stood on the stool next to him, leaning onto the counter. "Plus, to end up sitting next to each other like this, I mean I just got to say Wow!"

Guy flicked a glance over where the cloaked version of himself was sitting but noticed that he disappeared.

"Where did you--?"

"I am Sam!" The who, Sam, introduced himself brightly while catching Guy's attention. "Sam I Am. Of the Glurfsburg I Am's. Perhaps you've heard of us!"

"I-I'm Gabriella," Gabriella, the pink-furred woman, introduced. "Gabriella Jones."

"What's your handle, partner?!" The who asked with a bright smirk.

"I-I-I---"

"I-I-I! Wow, what a unique name! Do you say it three times or more?!" Sam asked excitedly.

"W-Wait--"

"So, Sam," Donna interrupted their interaction. "I imagined you'd be having the ushe."

"If you insist," Sam replied with a seductive smirk.

Donna blew bubblegum while taping the order on it. "Green Eggs and Ham!"

"Make that two orders, Donna. For me and Gabriella," Sam added with a bright smile.

"You got it, sport," Donna responded with a soft smile. "Two Green Eggs and Ham!"

"Coming up!" The chef shouted.

Guy's head began to pound, hearing his own heartbeat thumping in his chest. He couldn't think straight. Not at this moment.

"Hey," a female voice interrupted his anxious train of thought.

He turned to notice Gabriella and Sam staring up at him in concern.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah...uh, yeah. I'm fine," Guy uttered, trying to hide the shakiness of his voice.

"That's good to hear, I-I-I," Sam replied cheerfully.

Guy furrowed his brows. "It's Guy."

"Oh...forgive me for not letting you finish with your introduction. That's very rude of me," The who apologized politely, his head lowered as if he's done something wrong.

"It-It's fine," Guy stuttered, trying to get his head back to reality with a smile.

"Had a rough day?" The who asked, noticing Guy trying to fake a smile.

Guy scratched the back of his head. "Pretty much."

"Don't worry, I have a rough day too," Gabriella reassured him with a bright smile.

"You know what? Make it three orders, Donna! On me!" Sam volunteered with a happy expression.

"Eh, no!" Guy quickly rejected the offer. "Just plain purple pancakes!"

Sam gasped lightly. "You don't like Green Eggs and Ham?"

"No, I do not, Sam I Am," Guy replied, trying to sound indifferent. "I do not like Green Eggs and Ham."

"Understood. Questions asked and answered. No further queries necessary," Sam responded while leaning on the blue counter and clicking his tongue.

Gabriella tilted her head up at Guy. "Have you ever tried them before?"

This brought a smile back on the who. "Yeah, have you ever tried them before?"

"No," Guy answered with a sigh.

"Well, how do you know if you won't like them if you never tried them?" Gabriella probed with a soft smile on her face.

Sam nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, Green Eggs and Ham are the most deliciousness, nutritious, greenest thing in the whole world. And P.S. they're especially good here."

"That's fantastic. But I don't want them, here or otherwise," Guy rejected again but firmly this time.

"Oh...okay, suit yourself," Sam replied softly.

"Order up!" They heard the chef shouted as two plates of green eggs and ham were placed on the counter away from the trio.

Sam had his eyes widened in pure childish excitement. "Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy, it's coming!"

Gabriella smiled at Sam's childish excitement with a blush as Donna picked up the two plates of green eggs and ham and brought it over to both of them.

"Bring them in for a landing. The hangar is open." Sam excitedly got his fork out of his red hat with a big grin on his face and his body jumping from excitement.

Donna placed the two plates of Green Eggs and Ham in front of both Sam and Gabriella. "Here's the ushe, darlings. Enjoy!"

Guy blinked in pure confusion while she walked away from them. "I don't mean to be rude but...I ordered mine first."

"Food comes out when it's ready," Donna stated simply while waiting on the counter across from them.

Guy had his brow twitched as he heard someone sniffing up their food. He glanced over to notice Sam smelling the eggs and ham with pure delight.

"Oh, that's a good nose. It's an eggy nose." Sam stabbed the egg with a fork and picked it up in front of Guy and Gabriella. "I'm getting hints of egg and yes, definitely green."

The sight of the food made Guy gagged a bit. Of course, he never tried it before and he won't intend to. He had no idea why it was a popular food back when he's a kid. It didn't look that delicious.

Gabriella took a bite of her egg and her face lit up. "Oh my gosh, Sam, you're right! These are so good!"

"I know right!" Sam replied excitedly while taking a bite of his egg. "Mmm! So good! It's like eating little pieces of joy!" He took another bite with more joy. "Aww, each bite! JOY!" He spun around his chair like a child and then took another bite, disgusting Guy more. "Mmmm, more joy!"

They heard the bell ringing as the group of the inventors came into the diner. Guy didn't want to see any more people today while covering his face so that they wouldn't recognize him.

The orange furred lady put up her blue anti-umbrella. "What do you recommend for the celebration? Because--"

"We're going to Meepville!" All the inventors shouted at the same time while showing off their golden tickets to meet Snerz himself.

"Drop that flavor-hammer, Bert!" Sam called the chef.

"You got it!" The chef yelled from the kitchen.

Just like a flash, Donna had the plates of Green Eggs and Ham ready for the successful inventors and passing by them with speed. They all admired and gazed at this delectable delight while chattering about their excitement to go to Meepville.

Meanwhile, Guy's vision became a blur. It's as if everything just zoomed towards him like a train. He held his stomach while it's doing flips. His body felt like it's lit on fire. He got up from his seat while using his other hand to recover his headache.

"I'll be--right back," Guy replied while striding into the men's bathroom.

"I'll let you know when your order is ready!" Sam shouted but Guy went through the bathroom before he could add any more words.

Sam glanced over at Gabriella. "Do you think he's having an allergic reaction to Green Eggs and Ham?"

"He didn't eat any."

"Good point."

~.~

Guy barged through the men's bathroom and shut the door quickly behind him, feeling his breathing getting heavier and heavier. He stumbled through the nearest bathroom stall and puked into the toilet. He didn't eat anything at all, not yet--why was he puking all of the sudden? He had his eyes closed and mouth gaped. When he puked, it felt like it's sucking the soul out of him, turning his bright colored orange furred face a bit pale. Once he coughed up one more disgusting vomit, his eyes opened slowly while his breathing came back to normal. He realized that some things that he puked were blood, his own blood. This freaked him out and caused him to lean his head away from the toilet in pure disgust, breathing deeply.

He wiped his mouth with his arm from the disgusting junk that might have stained on his lips. Breathing calmly now, his body felt like it's shaking from puking so much. His eyes moved up towards the ceiling, noticing its plain white with two lights, one of them was flickering by the furthest stall. He slowly grounded himself back to the reality that he's in a diner and just met this weird couple of friends named Sam and Gabriella.

He heard the door prompted open.

"You okay in there, bud?" He instantly recognized that it's Sam's voice as he flushed down the toilet to hide his puke.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Guy replied with a cough as he got back up on his feet and walked over across the bathroom and washed his hands.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed Sam looking up at him in worry and concern, his fur a bit pale than when he remembered he saw him last.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked, tilting his head.

Guy nodded his head. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure. Is my order ready?"

"Um...I'm not sure you can handle that after you just vomit."

"Oh, I'll be fine. Thank you for your concern."

"No problem, bud."

"Sam...we, uh, just met."

Sam smiled genuinely. "That doesn't mean that we're not buddies."

After he said that, Sam strolled towards the furthest stall and closed the stall door. Guy figured that the small who was just using the bathroom. When he turned around, the door prompted open suddenly, revealing Sam in a much brighter fur color than he was before.

"Your purple pancakes are ready!" Sam shouted excitedly with a beam.

Guy furrowed his brow and turned his head to the furthest stall that he could've sworn that he saw Sam enter through. He slowly approached the door to the stall and opened it to find that the Sam he just saw disappeared without a trace.

"Is everything okay?" Guy heard Sam speaking up from behind as he turned to him.

"Yeah...I, um, okay," Guy uttered while slowly following Sam out of the bathroom.

When Guy and Sam walked out of the bathroom, the first thing Guy noticed was a bowl that was sizzling right in front of him. Guy looked into the bowl, seeing nothing but oatmush. Before he could say a word about it, the bowl of oatmush slowly faded into the purple pancakes he ordered. Guy shook his head while sighing deeply.

"C-Can I take these to go?" Guy requested with a stutter.

"Sure thing, honey. Let me get you a box," Donna answered with a wink and retrieved the box for him.

Sam tilted his head in confusion. "Are you sure everything is okay, Guy?"

"Yeah. It's fine," Guy said as Donna handed him a white box for him to put his purple pancakes in. He placed his brunkel down and opened the box.

After Guy put his purple pancakes in it, he closed the lid and sighed heavily. He got up from his seat was about to make his way around them.

"Well, it's good to meet you guys--" Guy tripped over the briefcases, interrupting his sentence. He quickly grabbed a briefcase and saluted to both Sam and Gabriella. "I'll see you guys later."

"See you!" Gabriella and Sam waved as Guy exited out of the door with the leftover box in one hand and a briefcase in another.

"Is Guy okay?" Gabriella asked Sam.

Sam shrugged with a hopeful smile. "I'm sure he's fine."

~.~

It's early in the evening when Guy entered back into his hotel room with his leftovers and his briefcase. Looking into the empty room again, he sighed heavily and tossed his keys into the ceramic bowl on the coffee table beside him. He closed the door and set his leftovers onto the counter in the kitchen. With a heavy sigh, he ambled into the living room and set his briefcase down onto the wide oval round coffee table right in front of him. He stared at his briefcase with a deep sigh and stroke it as if it's his pet.

"Rough day for both of us, huh?" Guy muttered to himself and the briefcase. "Too bad we can't see Snerz...but that doesn't mean that I can't rebuild you into for something other than competition. Am I right?"

Guy waited for a response, not fully understanding why he expected a response from an unremarkable attache sold in most major stores out of all the things he talked to today. The response was nothing more than silence as a breath escaped from his lips.

The sudden splashing of a pool snapped Guy out of his train of thought as he strode towards the front window and pulled apart the navy blue curtains to see what's going on outside. It's those inventors again! They were playing the instruments while swimming around the pool, singing, "We're going to Meepville!"

Guy groaned in irritation as he shut the curtains with his eyes rolled skywards.

"You can still hear us!!" Guy heard a random guy's voice as the laughter was heard from outside.

Guy shook his head and plumped in his seat right in front of the briefcase. His hands jumped right onto the locks to opened his briefcase.

"STOP!!" Guy turned his head to immediately noticed the cloaked version of himself having his hands up, palms exposed to the light from the fireplace.

"Don't open that briefcase yet," the cloaked Guy warned while pointing at the briefcase right in front of him.

"What are you talking about? Haven't you talked enough nonsense for today--?"

"Guy, listen to me. Hide all the vases. Any vase you can find, find somewhere to hide them and I mean now."

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

Guy snarled with impatience as he put all the vases away into the closet, one by one until the room appeared to have no vases. He shut the closet with a groan and glared at the cloak Guy.

"Okay, now can I open the briefcase?"

The cloaked Guy smirked and nodded. "Yeah. Now, you can open it."

Guy rolled his eyes. "What's with all the urgency to hide the vases? It's just my--"

As soon as he opened it, a mysterious beast popped out of the briefcase, knocking Guy back against the blue couch with his eyes comically wide. The beast warbled and extended its neck with a bit of a twitch of its head.

"What the--?!?!? Where does this thing come from?!?"

Cloaked Guy cleared his throat. "You may or may not have switched briefcases with Sam by pure accident."

"WHAT?!? WHERE'S MY INVENTION?!?!?"

~.~

It's closing time. Sam of all people should know that since he usually hanged out in the diner till it closed. He's outside with Gabriella while they walked down the street and towards the outskirts of Glurfsburg.

"So...you're not going to tell me what's in the briefcase?" Gabriella asked with a mischievous smile.

Sam smirked playfully while shaking his head. "Not until we get to my lovely home."

"With a bunch of your friends?"

"Well...I actually live alone," Sam uttered while scratching the back of his neck.

Gabriella had her eyes widened in shock. "Oh."

"Yeah. I'm actually glad you're coming with me."

"Well, it's not like I got anywhere else to go."

They reached towards the trailer as Sam checked his mail real quick.

"Ooh, junk mail!" Sam beamed cheerfully.

Gabriella looked at all of the signs that encouraged trespassing and hugs. "Um...you're not kidding when you said you live alone."

Sam nodded his head in agreement. "Yep."

As Sam and Gabriella walked into the trailer, Gabriella was in awe of the decorations in his small trailer and Sam set the briefcase down on the small table.

"So...do you want to know what's in here?" Sam asked with a whisper and a sly grin at the corner of his mouth.

Gabriella nodded her head while Sam smiled.

"Well, you have three guesses!" Sam shouted playfully.

"An animal?" Gabriella inquired with a raised brow.

"Oh! First try! Color me impressed." Sam smirked as Gabriella became more wide-eyed.

"Wait! You actually have an animal in there?!" Gabriella gasped as Sam opened the briefcase.

"Yep!" Sam showcased his hands to expect something to jump out of the briefcase...but nothing jumped out. He arched a brow and Gabriella ambled warily towards it. She slowly opened it to find metal parts in the suitcase.

"Um...Sam? I thought you said that there's an animal in here," Gabriella uttered with pure confusion in her tone.

Sam looked into the briefcase and gasped in shock. He dug through the metal and noticed a piece that was labeled, "Invention belonged to Guy Am I".

Sam breathed heavily and anxiously. "WHERE'S THE CHICKERAFFE?!?"


	3. Car-i̸̖̲͌̐͐s̸̬̽̔̕͠ḫ̷̞͖̓

_**Episode Two: Car-i̸̖̲͌̐͐s̸̬̽̔̕͠ḫ̷̞͖̓** _

_**The last time where we left off, Guy was scared out of his wits! He had no idea what's going on but all he knew that there's this scary wild beast and nowhere to hide!** _

"That's it! I'm done for! I lived my last day!" Guy shouted as he covered his eyes with his ears.

_**Pfft!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Oh, you poor fool!! If you're thinking that this is your last day, then you better hold onto your autumn fur butt! You ain't seen the worst of it yet! Besides, it just wants to play!** _

Guy removed his ears from his eyes to soon realized that he's looking up at the chickeraffe he saw at the zoo, who's warbling excitedly as if it hadn't stretched its limbs for a while. Then it just gazed at him with heart eyes and squawked innocently. Before he could say anything, the chickeraffe licked him.

"Ugh!" Guy wiped the slobber off of him in disgust as the chickeraffe shrunk himself into a puffed ball and bounced over him onto the couch and then bounced over it like an obstacle course. Guy slowly raise his head over the couch behind him to see the chickeraffe squawking and bouncing while the cloaked Guy watched from the dark corner with a small smile.

"Well...aren't you hyper?" Guy uttered as he looked at the cloak version of him, glaring. "So, that's why you told me to hide the vases. You knew that thing was in there."

"First off, it's called a chickeraffe. And second off, yes, yes I did know that it's in there. Those vases are quite expensive and irreplaceable. Had to learn that the hard way."

"Wait, I'm confused. Why did I switch briefcases with Sam? Out of all people to switch briefcases with," Guy growled angrily while pacing back and forth. He noticed the chickeraffe squawking excitedly. "Uh--"

"He wants to play with you," The cloaked Guy pointed out with a soft chuckle.

"Really? It thinks it's a pet?"

"He could be."

Guy groaned a bit while noticing the newspaper on the floor. He smirked to himself and rolled the paper up tightly.

He waved it in front of the chickeraffe. "Look here. Look here. FETCH!" Guy threw the newspaper at the window by the front door.

Cloaked Guy bit his bottom lip. "I wouldn't do that--"

The chickeraffe warbled excitedly and grabbed Guy by the waist. It thrusted him across the room and into the window by the front door, knocking down the curtains in the process.

"Yep. That's why...had to learn that the hard way too," Cloaked Guy muttered to himself.

Guy groaned in pain as he looked up at the excited chickeraffe running around the hotel room and breaking everything in its path. He saw the briefcase that it got out of and decided on what he must do. He got up quickly and ran to get the briefcase until the chickeraffe ran to him and tumbled over him in an animated way. He grabbed the chickeraffe by the neck but couldn't reach the briefcase because the chickeraffe scampered away and sprinted up on the ceiling, causing him to hang upside down while screaming.

"Help! Help!" Guy screamed to cloaked Guy, who's eating a red-colored yogurt with sprinkles.

"You're on your own for this one," Cloaked Guy said while licking off of his spoon and scooped more. "Yogurt."

"You're terrible!" Guy shouted at his other self as he yelped when the chickeraffe bounced through the ceiling above him. He fell onto the floor while noticing the couch bent, counters are broken along with his leftovers sprawled on the floor and squished, and the water spurting out from the sink. "Oh boy."

The chickeraffe squawked innocently as Guy moved his eyes back up at the chickeraffe, hearing the triumphant song from the inventors that made him cringe. He rolled his eyes upwards and finally picked up the briefcase.

"Alright, I just want you to get back into your briefcase--"

A knock interrupted him as the chickeraffe dropped back into the room with a party hat.

"Mr. Am I! Mr. Am I!"

Guy sighed heavily. "Oh no."

The chickeraffe warbled excitedly again until Guy shushed it.

"Stay...Stay...please," Guy strictly instructed the chickeraffe as he opened the door slightly to not reveal the chickeraffe. He soon realized that it's the clerk from the hotel with eyes closed and a stupid smile on his face.

"W-What can I do for you?" Guy asked nervously, stuttering.

"There seems to be some kind of chaos in your room. Is everything alright?" The hotel clerk asked happily as if nothing could go wrong.

_"Like he would care."_

Guy growled to himself from hearing his own thought again. He heard the chickeraffe firing off the party hat its wearing and glass breaking behind while biting his bottom lip tightly. "Nothing is wrong. Nothing is wrong at all! The room is neither on fire or underwater."

"That's excellent, sir. You know, as hotel policy, I must sing you this lullaby--"

"Oh no, you don't have to--"

"Oh, please, sir, I insist."

"Well, you see here. I-I, um, don't sleep as much as I should. I had to rebuild the invention--"

"Oh dear, you must be exhausted. Well, what's wrong with one night's sleep--?"

"Everything. Everything. I have this chaos that I have to take care of with my i-invention," Guy rambled onward, trying to find every excuse to get the clerk to go away.

"Just let him sing you the darn lullaby song," the cloaked Guy whispered to Guy, who just glared back at him for a moment and then shifted his gaze back at the hotel clerk.

"Well, you just said that nothing is wrong--"

"I mean, nothing is wrong with the room. Just my invention making wacky noises."

"Okay, well, we have the priceless vases that we want our guest to be careful around--"

"Aren't those replaceable by any chance?"

The hotel clerk chuckled while shaking his head. "No, no. That's why they're priceless."

"Oh."

The chickeraffe sniffed Guy's back while nudging its head against his side. Guy gently patted the chickeraffe away but the chickeraffe snatched his foot playfully, almost made him squeal.

Guy laughed nervously, hiding his squeal. "Uh-Uh--I-I'm a very busy man--"

"No worries, you can nuzzle in tight and I'll--"

"You know what, since you're so insistent on singing the lullaby...uh, I sleep better standing UP!" Guy yelped the last word as the chickeraffe lifted him off of the ground by grabbing his one foot but he stuck his other foot onto the ground as best as he could.

"Of course, sir." the clerk obliged while pulling out a small triumphant and began to sing the following words.

_"It's our honor to serve you._

_Now, sleep tightly and nuzzled into your bed._

_Tomorrow morning will be only another day._

_Check-outs at NOOOOOOOOOOONNNN!!!!!"_

The clerk held out the last note awfully well as the singing put the chickeraffe to sleep. Guy gained his other foot and focused on the cloaked version of Guy stroking the chickeraffe as it purred against him. When he looked back at the clerk, he bowed his head. With a smirk, Guy tipped him a brunkel.

"You've done a wonderful job. You should be on Flurbian Idol," Guy whispered to the clerk as he pushed the clerk away from the door.

The clerk seemed a bit shocked that he's receiving a tip and a 'compliment' from Guy but he seemed genuinely happy to get a brunkel.

"Uh...thank you, sir." the clerk walked away while Guy waved to him goodbye. He quickly closed the door gently and turned around to notice cloaked Guy stroking the chickeraffe while the chickeraffe cuddled up against him.

Cloaked Guy glanced up at Guy with a soft smile. "A bit off-key, huh?"

Guy sat down next to him and the chickeraffe on the bent couch. "Yeah, my ears almost bleed."

"Mine almost did too."

Guy stared at the fire blazing in front of him and then back to his other self stroking the animal. "I don't recall being an animal person."

Cloaked Guy chuckled a bit while petting Mr. Jenkins little puffball. "It's something to get used to."

"Get used to?" Guy arched a brow at his other-self.

Cloaked Guy bit his tongue. "Well...yeah."

Guy groaned deeply. "Look, I'm not buying that you're me crap. You enjoyed watching me fail and you said nonsense that's not even scientifically possible. If you're anything like me, you wouldn't like to fail and you would actually say some things that are possible. If you're anything like me, you wouldn't even fail in your own inventions."

Cloaked Guy stopped stroking the creature at the last sentence, pursing his lips.

"How many trophies have you won? Have you ever worked so hard in your life? Have you ever even succeeded in the invention competitions--?"

"No!" Cloaked Guy snapped while glaring at him. "The only trophies I have ever won were the ones from high school but that's it."

Guy silenced himself immediately.

Cloaked Guy set his hardened stare back at the fire, setting the sleeping creature aside.

"What did happen to you after high school?" Guy muttered his question softly.

Cloaked Guy shifted his stare at him. "You won't believe me if I tell you."

"Why not?"

"Why would you? You just say so yourself, you're not buying that you're me crap--"

"Because you haven't told me what's going on. You somehow knew that I switched briefcases with Sam and that the chickeraffe is in it. You somehow knew about the vases. So, since you know everything that's going on, what the heck is going on? What are you putting me through? What are you?"

"If you want the answers so badly, fine. I'm you from an alternate reality. There! There's your answer. In an alternate reality, my inventions explode at every turn and it gets to the point where I don't even try anymore. Look, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be here. Do you want to know how I know Sam was the first person to walk through the doors at the diner? Because I've been through it. Do you want to know how I know you are going to switch briefcases with Sam and end up with a chickeraffe? Because I've been through. I was in your shoes, Guy. Don't you get it? If it wasn't for your failure, you wouldn't have met Sam and Michellee--"

"Whoa, whoa, why would I care about them?"

Cloaked Guy sighed deeply. "Sam is your best friend...and Michellee is your lover."

"Whoa, whoa, I just met those people!"

"Look, there's this darkness that's after us. We won't be able to escape it unless we get out of this reality."

Guy laughed humorlessly. "This doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make sense at all."

"I knew it."

"What?"

"You wouldn't believe me."

"What you are saying is ridiculous--"

"You want to know why I know that?"

Guy rolled his eyes at his other-self. "Let me guess because you can predict the unknown future--"

"Because I am you," Cloaked Guy said this with an ominous mutter. "Because I wouldn't have believed myself if I told myself about the alternate reality...somehow...somewhere...I messed up...For some reason, I created this alternate reality that I'm trapped in and I want to get out of it. I was trying to stop a bomb...but...I somehow messed up the timeline or something. I don't know."

"Alternate reality?"

Cloaked Guy sighed deeply. "There's nothing else I can say."

"I--" Guy clenched his teeth suddenly while holding his stomach as if he's in pain. Cloaked Guy watched his other self fainted onto the couch, breathing shallow breaths that made him sleep.

"Guy," Cloaked Guy called while poking him. "Something is spreading inside of him...oh boy."

Cloaked Guy glanced down at his hands while his face puzzled. "At least he knows...but he won't believe me unless he wakes up. Unless I can wake up through him."

~.~

_Other Reality:_

Seven years went by quickly, however, no one cared to keep track of the time. A small camp was created within a small destroyed town. The tent sheets separated different rooms like the garden room to grow plants, computer lab, weapons and training room, medical lab, and the living room where everyone eats. Grinch, his green-furred matted with dirt, sat for hours and hours in the dreary day, looking through the map of the whole world that he created for himself to find the 'alternate reality' that Guy must have accidentally created.

For seven years, he wasn't able to find a single trace of life in an alternate reality. Max whimpered a bit while his limbs were getting weak from getting old.

"I know, Max. I know. They have to turn up somewhere though," Grinch uttered to his dog as Max climbed up on his lap and rested his small body on him. Grinch petted Max with a deep sigh.

The short red-furred man, who's now wearing two metal arms and brown pants, walked into the computer.

"Found any traces yet?"

"Nope. I still couldn't find Sam, Stan."

"Oh boy," Stan, the red-furred man, mumbled with a sigh. "We can't give up...we just can't."

"We won't...but I don't see anything yet."

The black cat with a worn-out red hat with white stripes appeared behind Grinch. "Have you found Gabriella yet?"

Grinch jumped back. "Jeez, Cat, could you just not do that?"

"Come on, I'm worried about my daughter," Cat replied urgently.

"No, I couldn't find anyone so far--" The green dot blinked, interrupting Grinch.

Grinch widened his eyes with a gasp. "Son of a yip!"

Stan arched a brow. "What?"

"Who is it?" Cat questioned immediately.

Grinch analyzed who it was and widened his eyes in pure shock. "Guy...it's Guy!"

"Yes! We found at least someone!" Cat shouted with joy.

"If we find Guy, we can find Sam," Stan uttered, hopeful in his tone.

"But we can't see them because they're in an alternate reality. If we create some kind of a wormhole to get them back from an alternate reality, we can actually save them."

"Are you saying that we should follow them?" Cat asked with a raised brow.

"No...wherever they end up staying or breaking the reality at, we'll be there," Grinch explained.

"Break the reality?"

"Yeah...if someone realized they're in an alternate reality and not in the reality they're in, that reality will break and consumed everything. It also implies when one merges into that other self," Grinch answered Stan's question.

Cat arched a brow. "Other self?"

"Like if the other Guy from our reality somehow merged with the Guy in an alternate reality...well, it would break."

"How long do we have to wait?" Stan uttered.

Grinch sighed deeply. "It took this long to get a reading that our real friends woke up...I have no idea how much longer it will take for one of them to merge into their other selves."

~.~

In Stovepipe Junction, destroyed and decayed, a bicycle traveled throughout the bones of the people that used to lived there. A young familiar girl, who's now seventeen, stopped by the big house that was in rubble. She dismounted her bike while leaving it on the ground. She had a scarf that covered her nose and mouth and dark goggles that covered her eyes. Her red hair was short, not as long as it used to be. The mailbox stood proudly in front of the house as she rubbed the dust off of it for it to reveal words in black letters: _Am I_.

She sighed heavily as she explored throughout the house, passing by the bones of the people she knew. By the time she reached the backyard, she noticed the tree standing proud and tall still, despite being almost uprooted off the ground that caused it to be tilted slightly forward. She noticed the pinwheels were still stuck onto the rooftop of the treehouse that was almost shattered. She climbed up the tree and reached the rooftop. Blowing on the pinwheels, they began to glow different colors surrounding her.

She smiled warmly while lifting her scarf away from her nose and mouth and then her dark goggles to reveal her youthful eyes. The seventeen-year-old girl with short red hair and fur matted with dirt was someone that her mother and her father wouldn't recognize at all. Or maybe they would, but they would only recognize her as their little E.B and not by Elanabeth.

Elanabeth decided to go by that name since that's her real name but her mother and her father always called her E.B for short. Her long wavy red hair that revealed to be her mother's features was long gone because it won't only haunt her if she kept her hair long...her hair would also get in her face whenever she's hunting for some food or fighting the cultists that would dare come after her.

Elanabeth frowned while walking through the decayed tree and crawled inside of her sheet tent. She looked all around the tent, reminding her instantly of her father figure, Guy, and her mother, Michellee. With those precious memories running through her mind, she pulled her legs up to her chest and began to sob quietly in the sheet tent.

~.~

_Guy's Dream:_

_He found himself standing in front of two figures...one of them was a big blue-furred man and the other one was the woman he met at the zoo...Gluntz?_

_"What's in the_ **_b̷͇̩̓r̶̡̧͕̰̲̲̔̑͊̾ͅȋ̵̡̭̞͈̟͚͉e̸̗͛̿f̶̳̫̠̭͕̦̐̓̐ͅc̵̣͎͐a̸̝̝̾͜s̷͎̋̆̊̍ͅe̶̡̻̣̰̒̿͊͌̾͘_ ** _?" The blue-furred man probed Guy, glitching by the end of the question._

_"I don't know what you're talking about," Guy uttered, shaking from head to toe. He soon realized where he was...he's near the cliff, his heels at the edge, and the silver trailer with red hats hanged across towards the tree._

_"What's going on?!" Guy shouted as he noticed their furs getting darker and darker. "Who are you?!?"_

_"We're the_ **_B̶̙͓̲̃̿͝a̸̩̞̔d̸̡̜̮͊̕G̵͓̞̔̌u̶͆͑ͅẏ̵͙͖̋̉s̵̖͛̔̕_ ** _" Gluntz proclaimed demonically and her voice glitchy while red eyes pierced into his. Guy slipped and fell back over the cliff, falling endlessly while screaming out for help._

_He landed onto the dark ground with a thud while voices were screaming at him._

_"There you go, Guy! There you go!" He heard the familiar desperate voice shouting...sounding so much like Sam._

_"What's happening?!" Guy screamed out, covering his ears with tears rolling down his cheeks._

_"Guys, he can't open his eyes! Look!" A familiar woman's voice yelled, her voice sounding eerily similar to Gabriella's._

_"He doesn't believe anything," a deep voice muttered._

_"GUY!!! WAKE UP!!!" He could've sworn he heard Gluntz again, her voice normal and not glitchy this time._

_Guy snapped his eyes open and noticed an empty desert with dark clouds roaming above. He breathed heavily and deeply as everything just glitched around him. For some odd reason, it kept glitching back to Stovepipe Junction...except his beloved home was destroyed and everyone he ever knew and cared about there was dead._

_"No...No...No! No, this is not real!!" Guy screamed while the voices came again._

_"Guy, it's okay!" Sam's voice tried to calm Guy down._

_"This is not real!" Guy cried out to drown out the voices as he collapsed on his knees with eyes sealed closed._

_"Guy, please listen--"_

_"Guy, wake up."_

_"Guy, wake up."_

_"Guy, open your eyes now!"_

_Guy screamed, drowning out all the voices trying to tell him. The voices grew smaller and eventually, they were drowned out._

_"Keep sleeping. Keep sleeping, Guy," an unfamiliar voice spoke to him as Guy slowly opened his eyes to see who spoke to him. He found himself staring into the face of an unfamiliar pink-furred man in the distance._

_"Hello?"_

_"Hello, Guy. You don't remember me, do you?"_

_"N-No."_

_"Good, keep it that way."_

_As if it's on cue, he felt chains tied to his body against the cold metal table, moving around as if they're snakes except they're digging into his skin. He couldn't breathe as he tried to call for help._

_"Go to sleep...go to sleep. You must never wake up," He heard the pink-furred man sing creepily. "When you wake, when you wake...your fantasies won't come true."_

_Guy glanced up at the darkness to stare into the red eyes of a beast lurking above him. The beast's mouth opened while Guy couldn't struggle out of the chains holding him down tightly._

_"Go to sleep...go to sleep. You must never wake up. When you wake, when you wake, all of your dreams will die."_

_Guy continued to hear those same verses over and over again as he glanced into the beast's mouth...but all he could find was dark tar reaching out towards him, dripping onto him and covering almost his entire body._

_His sight was barely covered as his vision was blurry when the beast closed its mouth and stared dead-on into his eyes. Before Guy could make anything up of what's happening, the beast leaped towards him with a vicious growl._

_Reality:_

Guy screamed as he jolted himself awake and sat up abruptly. He breathed heavily, his body shaking from the nightmare. He realized that he's been sleeping on the broken couch with the briefcase near his feet. Hearing the creature purring from inside of the suitcase, Guy knew that the chickeraffe was sealed in the briefcase. When he sat up further, he noticed a note written on the small paper.

_Take the chickeraffe to this address: 8351 N. Bluff Gluff._

Guy seemed genuinely confused as to who wrote it but soon theorized that it must be his other-self. How did he know that address? He took the briefcase and quickly exited out of the hotel room.

~.~

_**Guy huffed and puffed like the big bad wolf, his thoughts full of questions and things to say to Sam once he gets up there.** _

Guy strode through the outskirts of the town, located at the cliffside. There's a small silver trailer that Guy was familiar with...wait, was that trailer from his dream? With the red hats hanged across from it to the tree?

"Don't tell me that this is it?" Guy uttered as he looked at the piece of paper again...and then back up again. Yep...it's the address. "You got to be kidding me."

_**Well, no, because what Guy didn't know is that the BadGuys were already there...oh, I bet they were planning something devious.** _

Gluntz had her eyes widened while sitting in the red car with McWinkle. "Wait a minute, I know that Guy."

"What?" McWinkle uttered, arching a brow.

"I saw him at the zoo the other day. On the day before the chickeraffe was stolen," Gluntz pointed out excitedly. "There have to be some coincidences. He must be the one that stole the chickeraffe."

"I don't think that's our target," McWinkle theorized. "I saw him flying with that weird flying contraption the other night...something tells me that he wasn't directly involved with it. Come on."

Both of them got out of the car.

Meanwhile, Guy approached the trailer and pounded onto the door.

"Hello?! Is anybody home?! I think this belongs to you!" Guy shouted out loud, unaware that the BadGuys were approaching him from behind and could hear what he's saying. "Hello?!" Guy pressed his face against the window to look inside and found that there's no one inside.

He gruffed and turned around, but as soon as he turned around, McWinkle and Gluntz approached him.

"Greetings," McWinkle uttered firmly, scaring Guy back against the door with a yelp. He stared into their eyes, which were covered with sunglasses. "Looking for someone?"

Guy breathed in and out heavily. "Uh...well, yeah but he's not here."

"And who is this 'he' you're trying to find, mister?" Gluntz probed.

Guy furrowed his brow. "Gluntz?"

"Yes?"

"Wait, this can't be real," Guy muttered to himself but McWinkle heard him.

"You better believe it's real," McWinkle responded firmly while leaning over to him, their foreheads barely touching as his bushy brows were narrowed. "Now, if it is what I think it is in the briefcase, then you'll be in a lot of trouble."

 _"Play dumb, Guy."_ Guy thought to himself.

"Uh...what briefcase?" Guy questioned with a fake smile. However, the BadGuys don't seem convinced.

_"Not that dumb."_

The briefcase shook in his grasp, making squabbling sounds from inside.

"Oh, oh, this briefcase. It's just my wacky invention...causing the squabbling noises and-and-and the briefcase has uh, has uh, a malfunction. Yeah, a malfunction and-and-and it needs to be fixed...right now...um, and someone...a very good friend of mine lives here-here. I-I mean, briefcases are the unremarkable attache sold in most stores yet it's durable enough to handle the bad weather and fire and smoke. I mean, where could everything go wrong with a briefcase? Why does everyone have-have to be so suspicious about having briefcases? I mean, briefcases are a normal thing to buy at the store nowadays. Like I'm sure you guys got briefcases with you but-but you don't carry them around as often as-as you should."

McWinkle noticed Gluntz taking notes on what Guy was saying while leaning over to see what she wrote. Gluntz used the back of her pen to count something in the paper with McWinkle's help.

Then, McWinkle glanced back at Guy with an arched brow. "You know, you've been saying briefcases a lot. Like five times."

"Briefcases? I mean, well, yeah, um--"

"Now six times," McWinkle counted while crossing his arms. "You're going to be in a lot of trouble if you don't tell us what's going on."

"Who are you people?!" Guy yelped while backing away from them, his back against the silver trailer as they followed him with their gazes.

"We're the Bad Guys! Duh," Gluntz replied simply while smiling cutely up at McWinkle, who just flicked a disturbed glance at her.

Taking off of his sunglasses, he squinted at her in confusion and then sighed deeply in discouragement. Then he put them back on.

"Okay, Guy--"

McWinkle and Gluntz suddenly realized that Guy ran behind the trailer.

"Get back here, punk!" McWinkle snarled while chasing after him with Gluntz trailing behind him.

Guy ran towards the cliff, his feet edging off.

"Guy!" McWinkle shouted from behind as Guy whirled around to face them. "Don't do anything rash!"

"Get away from me!" Guy screamed at them, his eyes full of panic.

"Don't jump!" Gluntz shouted while McWinkle patted her arm to step aside.

"Look, Guy, you won't be in trouble if you cooperate and--"

"C-Car," Guy muttered underneath his breath, noticing the red car zooming towards them.

McWinkle and Gluntz turned around just in time to notice the car zooming towards them as they immediately ran and slid over to the cliff. Guy squeezed his eyes shut while holding the briefcase tightly. When McWinkle and Gluntz were over the edge, hanging on for their dear lives, The car swerved right in front of Guy without hitting him. Guy lifted one eyelid as soon as he heard the car swerved and then opened his eyes fully when a window was rolled down, revealing it to be Gabriella sitting on the passenger seat and Sam driving the car.

"Guy, get in!" Gabriella shouted as she helped popped the back door open for him to get in.

As Guy noticed the Bad Guys climbing up on the edge, he took a deep breath.

_"What am I getting myself into?"_

Guy ran towards the car and hopped onto the backseat, closing the door quickly. "Go! Go!"

Sam pressed onto the gas pedal and sped away from the cliff, catching the strings of his red hats perfectly.

When McWinkle and Gluntz climbed up, they saw the car taking off without them.

"Well...this is not going to end well," Gluntz uttered as McWinkle groaned deeply.

"Great, a fleer, just what I need before my retirement," McWinkle replied with a sigh.

~.~

Meanwhile, the red car sped over the hills, causing Sam, Gabriella, and Guy to bounce in the car with a string of red hats dragging across the country road.

"Isn't fleeing fun?!" Sam yelled with pure joy while Gabriella was holding onto the bar so that she's not flipping over easily.

"S-Slow down!" Guy shouted while tumbling in the backseat. They finally got onto the smooth road as Guy finally grounded himself onto the backseat, breathing heavily. "What's going on?! Who are those maniacs?!"

"Oh, they're the B.A.D.G.U.Y.S. I thought that they made that pretty clear," Sam answered with a giggle as he placed the briefcase behind them, his thick butt showing. Gabriella subconsciously caught glimpses of it while turning her gaze away from him, blushing madly.

_"Don't look at it. Don't look at it."_

Guy heard Gabriella's thought but before he could question what's going on, Sam opened the briefcase next to him. The chickeraffe popped out with an exciting warble while Gabriella whirled around to see the chickeraffe.

"Great, you let it out," Guy mumbled underneath his breath.

"That's the animal you have in your briefcase?" Gabriella questioned.

"Yep, isn't he cute?" Sam implied while the chickeraffe licked Gabriella's face, causing her to giggle.

"Aw, he's so adorable," Gabriella replied while petting the chickeraffe.

Guy rolled his eyes at them. "Oh man...this is going to be a long trip."

"Come on, Guy. Where's your sense of fun?" Sam asked tauntingly.

Guy glared at him. "You do have some idea that this chickeraffe belongs to a zoo back in Glurfsburg. Why don't we actually take him back into the zoo before we get cops involved?"

Sam smiled brightly with a soft chuckle. "The cops are already involved, pal. However, if we return the chickeraffe back to the zoo...well, they're only going to tighten the restraints on him. We gotta take him somewhere safe, right?"

"Somewhere safe? Like where?"

"Meep-City!" Sam shouted joyfully while drumming his fingers on the wheel.

"Seriously? A big city where there's going to be a lot more people than Glurfsburg? Yeah, I'm sure the animal will be safe there," Guy remarked sarcastically.

"I'm sure there will be transport to get this creature back to his home," Gabriella pointed out the bright side of the situation.

"Home?" Guy probed.

"Yeah, back into the wildlife where it belongs. Trust me, the B.A.D.G.U.Y.S only wanted the chickeraffe to sell to a collector while I have his best interest in mind," Sam answered excitedly.

"Really? How would you know?"

Sam took out his badge that showed a license and badge. "Because I'm licensed to be The Wildlife Rescuer."

Guy rolled his eyes. "Okay, if you're such a wildlife rescuer, then how come you took the chickeraffe without permission from the zoo?"

"Oh, because our agency is secret. The only people I told this too are you and Gabriella," Sam responded, believable in his words. "Besides, I'm given this mission and I'm going all the way through. You and Gabriella can help if you want."

"I would love to help," Gabriella blurted out with an enthusiastic smile.

Sam brightly smiled at her, his cheeks going into a faint shade of pink. "Great! The more the merrier."

He got out his plate of green eggs and ham and began eating it in front of Gabriella and Guy.

"Want some?" Sam offered to Gabriella.

"I'm good. I'm full from breakfast," Gabriella uttered sweetly.

"What about you, Guy?"

The sight of the food almost Guy vomit again. "No...I won't eat it in the car."

Sam arched a brow. "Okay...that's oddly specific--"

"You know what," Guy groaned a bit. "Just-just let me off right here."

Sam tilted his head while looking around the empty vastness of the desert. "Are you sure? It's the middle of nowhere--"

"Just stop here."

Sam jerked to a stop as Guy got out of the car with a briefcase in hand.

"Wait, Guy, you're going to get lost...stranded," Gabriella voiced her concern for Guy.

"I'll be fine. I'm sure I'll find a ride," Guy uttered while the chickeraffe reached its head through the window and licked him. "Ugh, could you not do that?"

"Oh come on, he likes you," Sam replied while having a bright smile on his face.

"Well, I can't be involved in this...I just can't," Guy uttered while sticking his thumb out to hitch-hike his way out of this desert.

"I mean, we can drop you off somewhere nearby--"

"No."

"How about we exchange contact information so that we can catch up?" Sam offered with a bright smile.

"No."

"How about a hug?"

"No."

"Okay...not a hugger. Totally respect that. How about we shake hands and promised to meet up--"

"No!" Guy finally snapped as he turned away from the car, wandering the desert alone.

"He's going to get lost, Sam," Gabriella uttered with concern.

"I know...but there's nothing I can do," Sam muttered as he drove away slowly from Guy.

~.~

As Guy traveled through the desert, the heat was beating down on his head while he took off his brown hat and fanned himself with it. His orange fur was drenched with sweat and his vision began to be blurry.

"You know, you should've stayed with Sam and Gabriella," A familiar voice talked behind him, causing him to whirl around to find Cloaked Guy standing behind him drinking a bottle of water.

"Where did you...get that?" Guy pointed at the water, panting deeply.

Cloaked Guy looked at the water bottle. "Oh, I just get things in thin air. Which is actually odd because I never thought I could do it in real life."

"Wh-What are you--?" Guy collapsed on his knees, his hands on the hot dirt sand. His limbs were shaking as if he couldn't travel any more miles throughout the desert. There's no one around him except the cloaked Guy. Or so he thought.

Guy got up and realized that he's surrounded by darkness and not the desert. He breathed in and out heavily while plodding through the desert.

"Come on, Guy, why don't you listen?" Cloaked Guy uttered.

_***singing* C-Come on, Guy, why don't you listen?** _

Cloaked Guy looked up to the sky. "Do you mind not repeating after me?"

_**Well, somebody's gotta tell a story.** _

As if it's on cue, the music began.

**_*singing*_ _Even though, our heroes are separated right now._ **

_**Guy Am I couldn't believe his eyes and ears right now.** _

_**How to account for his endless wandering?** _

_**Man, the man is** _

_**Non-Stop!** _

All of the sudden, as Guy was walking through the darkness, Sam came out of nowhere beside him with a plate of green eggs and ham. Unexpectedly, he began to sing:

_"Hey, buddy, how are you doing?_

_You seem in distress and drenched in sweat."_

Sam wiped the sweat off of Guy's brows with a smile as he was singing this and then offered green eggs and ham while continuing to sing:

_"Would you like Green Eggs and Ham?"_

Guy blinked his eyes to stare at the food and then shook his head quickly, unknowingly starting to sing himself:

_"No, I do not like green eggs and ham, Sam I Am._

_I will not eat them here nor there._

_I will not eat them in the car._

_Please leave me be!"_

Sam persisted while tilting his head. "Why don't you try it? You might like it--"

"No!" Guy barked while striding through the dark with Cloaked Guy following him.

Cloaked Guy sighed deeply while singing:

_"_ _Why are you so darn stubborn?_

_Why are you so darn stubborn?_

_Why are you so darn stubborn?_

_Soon that attitude may be your doom._

_Why are you running like you're running from a beast?_

_Run day and night until your legs and body gave in?_

_Every day you run as nothing matters more than you?_

_You'll regret everything if you don't listen."_

"He's running nonstop!" Guy heard more voices participating in this hallucination.

Gabriella skipped beside Guy with a bright smile and sang:

_"I heard so much about you, Guy Am I._

_You're different than your usual self._

_Don't you remember where you're at?_

_You're wandering more into the darkness and that's what they want_

_I know how much you really mean to them."_

Guy gasped and ran away from Gabriella. "What are you talking about?! Get away from me!"

It's sudden that Gluntz popped up in front of him, freaking him out, and began to sing:

_"Hey, Guy, you don't know what you're running from!_

_This is more than some crazy adventure!"_

Guy went around her and noticed the fox who shouted in a singing voice:

_"Yo! He ain't listening!"_

McWinkle immediately appeared but he's leaning against an invisible wall with his arms crossed and followed Guy with his eyes. He surprisingly started to sing:

_"Why do you always push the people you love away?_

_Why do you always push the people you love away?_

_You're only going to make yourself more vulnerable without them."_

Guy knew he's going insane when a goat, a fox, a mouse, and Gluntz joined McWinkle in watching him, following him with their movements, and singing:

_"Why do you run like it's going out of style?_

_Run day and night until your body collapses?_

_Why do you run like you're running from the beast?_

_Every day you run like you're racing against time!_

_Please stop what you are doing!"_

The music began to grow softer as Guy approached a door. It soon was answered by his own mother from Stovepipe Junction.

"Mom?" Guy uttered.

His mother smiled. "Son, why don't you come in for a late-night dinner?"

Guy sighed in relief as she led him into the house and into the kitchen. "It's about time I'm home."

He sat down with his family gathered around him with laughs and smiles. However, something was off. Instead of having something like steak or breakfast for dinner, the plates of green eggs and ham appeared in front of every member of the family, who seemed to enjoy it without regard.

"Am Is."

Guy recognized the voice to be Sam's as he whirled his head to notice Sam next to him.

"Tell me about Am yous," Sam asked out of Guy's family.

Guy scrambled away from Sam I Am. "Sam, what are you doing here? You don't know where I live."

"You took me here once, remember?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about!"

The music began to grow a bit more hostile as Sam held out the plate of green eggs and ham. "Well, your family seems to like this delectable delight. Why don't you give it a try?"

"NO!" Guy stomped away from Sam, attempting to get out of the house while his family was frozen in their seats and smiles plastered on their faces.

Sam chased after Guy. "Guy, listen."

"No, you have brought nothing but destruction in my life!"

"You don't mean that--"

"Yes, I do."

Sam jumped in front of Guy and blocked the front entrance that he's about to exit out of. "Please, Guy, I know deep down you know your success isn't real."

"What are you talking about?"

"This is the life you wanted the whole time. But you wouldn't be here if you hadn't failed."

"Get away from me!"

"Please, try it! This is the only way--"

"No, no way!" Guy began to walk away from Sam but Sam trailed behind him like a poodle.

"You're making a mistake," Sam cautioned.

"Please, stop following me!"

"Guy, we've been through a lot and a lot. Your life is amazing. Please, Guy, you don't need to succeed with these dreams. You have me, Michellee, and E.B. Please, have some common sense," Sam uttered as Guy strode faster through the door and shut it to separate him and Sam.

Guy began to sing with tears in his eyes.

_"I'll keep running until I get to someplace safe._

_This is the reality that is real to me(please listen, listen, listen)_

_I'll keep running until I see the light._

_No matter how much the darkness might pursue me._

_I'll make sure that nothing gets in the way of my happiness."_

Out of nowhere, within the dark desert, he noticed a vixen in a white beautiful dress and sitting on the cut-out of a half-moon, gazing softly at him. Her angelic voice began to sing:

_"It's been seven years since we searched for you._

_We have finally found you but you're only a flicker away._

_Let your light get stronger so that we can find you._

_Come on, Guy, your step-daughter is all grown up._

_Gabriella's and Sam's fathers were in search of them._

_Your old friend from one of the invention competitions is willing to sacrifice_

_Everything he ever had to find you._

_Please, don't forget about your family."_

Someone grabbed his hand as he whirled around just in time to notice Michellee, the woman who he met at the invention competition. She sang:

_"Look at where you are._

_Remember back in the past_

_Where you and I fall in love?_

_The fact that you're still alive is a miracle_

_Just stay alive, honey, that would be more than enough._

_And if I could buy a fraction of your time_

_If I could grant you peace of mind by holding your hand._

_Would it be enough?"_

There's a brief pause as he felt his heart fluttered when she held his hand. The music was soft and he felt like his whole world was fading and it was just Michellee. He blushed while he smiled back at her warmly. He had the urge to kiss her on her soft lips but he...he didn't. Instead, he let go of her hand and began shaking his head.

"This is not real," Guy muttered as the music grew louder in his ears. He ran away from her hand, leaving her almost on the verge of tears and reaching out for him.

"Guy!" Michellee cried as strangers like a cat, a green what, a red-furred man with two metal arms, and a teenage girl popped up right in front of Guy. Guy veered off to avoid them. The same vixen who sang a moment ago watched him from the cut-out of the moon while Michellee, McWinkle, Gluntz, Sam, Gabriella, a goat, a fox, and a mouse ran after Guy.

He couldn't outrun their voices as they sang:

_"How do you run like you're in hot pursuit?_

_Run day and night till your whole body gives in?_

_Every day you run as you had nowhere else to go._

_Had nowhere else to go!_

_Do you have somewhere else to go?"_

McWinkle, Michellee, Gluntz, E.B, Sam, and Gabriella popped up right in front of Guy as he jerked to a stop and ran in the opposite direction.

_"How do you run like it's your last day to survive?_

_How do you run like you need salvation?_

_How do you run every second you're alive?"_

The fox, the goat, the mouse, the vixen, the red-furred man with metal arms, Guy's family members, the cat in the hat, the green what, and the goldfish in the water bowl popped right in front of him, causing Guy to collapse on his knees while continuing to sing:

_"Every second you're alive? Every second you're alive?"_

Guy began to cry out in a singing voice, craning his neck up to the sky:

_"Please leave me be._

_Please leave me be._

_I don't know you._

_I don't know any of you._

_Please leave me alone._

_Please...oh, please."_

"Guy. Guy," He heard a soft voice calling out to him.

He felt soft hands touched his shoulder and realized that Michellee was right next to him, singing:

_"Guy, please listen, honey._

_Look around you! Around you!_

_I'm right here._

_I'm right here."_

The vixen came beside Michellee and slowly brought her away from Guy, singing to her:

_"He won't listen to you!_

_He won't listen to you!_

_He won't stop, sweetheart!_

_He won't stop until he flies on the wings of an angel!"_

The mouse stepped in and used his vocal cords to sing:

_"You're gonna get lost in the rain!_

_Light is dark, better is worse,_

_When you close your eyes!_

_Don't ever close your eyes!"_

The fox and the goat sang together in sync:

_"Memories bring back Memories._

_Memories bring back Memories._

_Memories bring back Memories."_

The cat began to participate while using his voice:

_"Bloody Diana!_

_Bloody Diana!_

_Don't be like Bloody Diana!_

_Don't go with Bloody Diana!"_

In the background, the chorus sang as Guy stood up and kept running:

_"Why are you so darn stubborn?_

_Why are you so darn stubborn?_

_Why are you so darn stubborn?_

_Soon that attitude may be your doom._

_Why do you run like you're going to die?_

_Why do you keep ignoring us?"_

Everyone finally came together as Guy ran through the darkness away from them.

" _We all have eyes on you._

_We'll be there for you in your dreams._

_Please stop running_

_Running_

_Running_

_Running_

_Running_

_Running--!"_

"Guy, seriously, stop running!!" Cloaked Guy screamed as Guy unknowingly ran into a street and a bright blue vehicle hit him in the legs. He fell over and blacked out. 

~.~

A bright blue car drove through the empty desert, on its way to Meepville. The car was driven by none other than Michellee with E.B sitting in the passenger seat, seatbelt tightened on the small child with the pink air boost that laid comfortably on her lap. Michellee scanned the road as E.B sighed heavily.

"Mom, you're driving so slow," E.B groaned impatiently.

"It's the safe way to drive," Michellee stated while keeping her eye on the road. For a brief moment, she took her eyes off of the road as she noticed her daughter resting her head on the safety pink boost with a frown. "It'll be fun. I promise."

"You say that every time and then it ends up being boring," E.B replied with a heavy sigh. "Do you remember you took me to a movie where it talks about how to build walls?"

"I thought you liked that--"

"No...I mean, I fell asleep throughout the whole documentary of how to build a wall--"

"Well, it must have been late at night--"

"I fell asleep since the beginning...it took three hours for it to finish," E.B informed plainly while leaning her head back against the cushion.

Michellee sighed deeply. "I'm sure Meepville has a lot of fun places other than some tall buildings."

E.B brightened up at the idea. "Yeah, Theo told me that they have this circus that has a rollercoaster inside of it! Could we go see it?"

"You bet we can," Michellee replied with a smile. E.B gasped with shock and brightly smiled until Michellee continued, "You can view it from the window of the Snerzco building. So that you can see it from a safe distance."

E.B frowned while looking out of the window. "Figures."

There's an awkward pause as Michellee glanced at her daughter, noticing the far-off look on her face. She bit her bottom lip and faked a smile.

"Are you thirsty?" Michellee offered sympathetically.

"A little," E.B answered without looking at her mother.

"Here, let me get you some water--" Michellee used her knee to drive the wheel while she looked behind her for any water bottles that she could give to her daughter.

E.B noticed something strange outside of the passenger window. "Uh...Mom?"

"Hold on, sweetie. I think--aha! There you are," Michellee replied playfully, trying to get her daughter to laugh.

But E.B followed an orange-furred figure with her eyes as he collapsed on his knees, screaming out something with tears. "Mom?"

"Almost got it, almost got it," Michellee responded quickly while trying to reach for the water bottle as E.B witnessed the figure running through the desert aimlessly. Then, he stepped out onto the road right in front of them.

"Mom!"

Michellee grabbed the water bottle but was too late to realize that her car hit the stranger's legs, causing him to fall over and blackout. She screeched and quickly slammed on her brakes. Michellee breathed in and out heavily as E.B sat there idly, befuddled in her gaze.

Michellee glanced at E.B sternly. "This is why you don't take your eyes off the road like I just did."

"But I didn't take my eyes off--"

"I know, I know, sweetie," Michellee replied while softening her gaze at her daughter. "And I'm proud of you for that but as for me...ugh, I hope I don't get sue."

Both of the girls heard a bit of groaning as Michellee slowly reached the back without taking her eyes off of the road this time and then picked up a frying pan.

E.B glanced at her mother with her brow furrowing. "Did you pack up a frying pan?"

"You'll never know when you'll need it," Michellee uttered while putting her car in reverse and backed away from the stranger that she just hit.

E.B arched a brow. "You didn't hit him that hard. You were going slow-"

Michellee had her eyes widened while getting out of the car, not listening to what her daughter had to say.

E.B watched her mother slowly creeping up to the orange-furred figure laying on the road, drenched in sweat and blacked out.

Michellee raised a brow as she tapped on him by the tip of her pan. His mouth fell open slightly, letting out a small moan escaped from his parted lips.

"You look familiar...wait a minute...I know you," Michellee muttered to herself while tapping him more on the cheek. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

When the Knox snapped his eyes open with a gasp, Michellee yelped and smacked him with a frying pan with her eyes closed. She lifted her eyelid open to realize that the familiar stranger had a bump on his head from being hit by a frying pan. Clenching her teeth anxiously, she walked back to her car and was about to step into it until she paused for a moment.

E.B sat in her seat silently, pondering what her mother was thinking about. Michellee took a glimpse back at the orange-furred Knox, knowing that she couldn't just leave him out in the middle of the desert past out like this. She took deep breathes and then calmed herself down. She unlocked the doors and opened the left backdoor. Then, Michellee grabbed the briefcase he had been carrying around and placed it on the floor and then grabbed Knox by the dog ears and dragged him across the hot blacktop in the middle of the desert. Panting heavily from even lifting him slightly, she dropped his limp body onto the blacktop.

"Oh man, you're so heavy," Michellee mumbled underneath her breath as stretched her back and went around the car to open the other side of the car.

E.B tilted her head. "What are you doing, Mom?"

"We need to help this man," Michellee uttered. "I felt bad for hitting him."

"You barely hit him," E.B corrected her mother. "Then, again you hit him with a frying pan."

Michellee reached through the car and grabbed Knox's wrists to pull him into the vehicle but he's too heavy to lift into the car, causing her to groan.

"Do you want my help?" E.B asked softly.

Michellee panted a bit while nodding. "Yeah, hold on." She pressed the buttons to get rid of the safety boost and the seatbelt off of her daughter, who just sighed in heavy relief.

"Finally, I can move," E.B muttered to herself as she got out of the car and went around the other side of the Knox.

"Okay, E.B, I need you to grab his legs and push him into the car," Michellee requested of her daughter as E.B grabbed his ankles.

"Okay?" E.B probed while waiting for her mother's instruction.

Michellee grabbed Knox's wrists. "Alright, on three, I want you to push him in the car."

"Okay."

"One, Two, THREE!"

Michellee lifted Knox's upper body into the car as E.B pushed his legs and feet into the car. Once the Knox was in the car, both Michellee and E.B panted for a moment.

"This trip is getting interesting," E.B uttered with a goofy grin and crawled into the backseat with the Knox to watch over him.

Michellee snatched a cloth from her purse in the car and poured the cold water from her water bottle on the cloth to damp it. When that's done, she placed it over his head to cool down his burning forehead. She carefully closed the door so that it won't hit his head and went around the car to close the other door. E.B crawled right back onto the front seat and closed the passenger door as Michellee sat right back down on the driver's seat.

E.B glanced back at the stranger. "Do you know him, Mom?"

"Barely, put your seatbelt on," Michellee stated urgently as E.B buckled up.

"Can I watch over him?"

"No, leave him be," Michellee answered as she drove away and headed towards her destination.

~.~

Meanwhile, Sam was driving the car while the chickeraffe purred and rubbing its head against Gabriella's shoulder.

"So...uh, what do you do for a living?" Sam asked with a nervous smile.

Gabriella shrugged with a frown. "I-I really don't have a job...per se."

"Oh. Do you have someplace to go back to--?"

"No...I mean...not anymore."

"What do you mean?"

Gabriella frowned further while sinking back against her seat.

Sam furrowed his brow at first until he sealed his lips for a moment. "Look, if you don't want to talk about it, I understand. It's perfectly fine."

There's a brief pause as Gabriella glanced over at Sam.

"I, um, used to be in a relationship," Gabriella uttered sadly.

Sam turned his attention towards her as she took a deep breath in and out.

"His name is Daniel. He's handsome and charming. He makes me laugh every time I see him. He told me that I was beautiful. I was like a flower that sprouts through the concrete," Gabriella recalled, smiling a bit but then her mouth turned upside down quickly.

"What happened?" Sam asked softly with a brow raised.

"Well...he cheated. That's what happened. I found him with another girl and he didn't even try to lie...he just said that...well, stuff," Gabriella replied sadly. "I moved out and that's how I end up where you found me."

Sam blinked for a second. "Oh, that's what you mean when you say that you have a rough day."

"Yep, hehe. I can't believe that something happened and you think that it will destroy you for life but then...you end up going on this crazy adventure, forgetting all about that one person who doesn't want you."

Sam rolled his eyes at the thought of Daniel. "Well, it's his loss."

"No...not really."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...that girl he's with. Oh man, she's so beautiful. Have you ever seen models on the front page of magazines? That's what she looks like," Gabriella replied with a wistful sigh.

Sam twisted his mouth downward. "Are you sure she's like that on the outside or is that the one time you see her?"

"Oh, Sam...she's just...beautiful. Shiny blonde hair, those soft gorgeous eyes, gah...I would give anything to look like her."

Sam frowned with a blush. "If I had to be honest, I like what you look like originally much better than the model your ex-boyfriend decided to date. I mean, for one thing, you got something that she doesn't obviously."

Gabriella arched a brow and glanced at him. "What?"

"A beautiful heart," Sam answered while softly smiling at her, causing her cheeks to go red instantly. Sam's cheeks heated up a bit while chuckling a bit to shake it off. "I mean, as far as I know you, you're kind, caring, gentle, and the chickeraffe seems to take a liking to you."

The chickeraffe warbled lovingly as it snuggled its beak against her shoulder. Gabriella giggled softly and stroked its head. She then frowned a bit.

"She might have that too."

"Maybe...but I know you and, as far as I'm concern, your boyfriend really did miss out on someone like you."

"What's there to miss?"

"Well, let's see. Your beauty, your laugh, your smile, your soft eyes, the way you brush your hair in the morning--" Sam's eyes went comically wide immediately after he said that and noticed that Gabriella caught that. "I swear I'm not stalking you. I just got up this morning to find you brushing your hair and I admire the way your hair flows...I mean, I admire the way--"

"No, no, I understand...um, thank you," Gabriella thanked Sam.

Sam nodded his head with a blush. "No problem."

Sam then noticed a little heart-shaped birthmark on her forehead that's barely visible. "Is that your birthmark?"

Gabriella used her bangs to hide it but Sam took his hands off of the wheel and stopped hers from brushing her bangs to cover it.

"No, don't cover it. It's cute," Sam complimented.

"You don't think it makes me look ugly?"

"No, in fact, it's barely noticeable. But it looks cute on you," Sam replied while putting his hands back on the wheel quickly.

Gabriella smiled softly. "Thank you."

Sam nodded his head as he pulled up to the side of the road with a deep breath. Gabriella noticed him pulling up near a slope that will lead all the way to the edge with the glistening lake right below.

"Why are we stopping here?" Gabriella asked Sam with concern.

Sam chuckled nervously. "This is probably a good time for you and the big guy to get out of the car."

Gabriella noticed a lake ahead of them and nodded her head in understanding. She picked the chickeraffe up by the puffball and exited out of the car. When she slammed the car door shut, Sam slammed his foot on the gas and the car zoomed off towards the cliff. Gabriella watched, wondering when Sam will jump out of the car.

Sam, however, put the brick on the gas pedal and was about to open the door until he realized that it's stuck.

"Oh no," Sam muttered to himself while trying to bust the door open to tumble out but the car was getting closer and closer to the cliff.

Gabriella had no idea what was going on until a cloaked figure ran past her without hesitation. The figure sprinted after the vehicle and grabbed the string of hats.

"Roll down your window!" The figure echoed as Sam heard him and rolled down the window, just as instructed.

When the car veered off of the cliff, the stranger threw the string of hats towards it. Sam caught onto the red hat by the end of it, which instantly pulled him out of the car and left him hanging there. He looked down at the lake with a heavy sigh of relief.

The cloaked figure did too until he turned around and saw Gabriella widening her eyes in shock. The figure was right about the same height as Sam and her. When she looked into the cloak, she almost screamed out loud.

It's Sam I Am! His yellow and white fur pale only slightly and his red hat matted with dirt. The cloaked version of Sam handed Gabriella the string with a soft lovely smile that was so familiar to her while she received it subconsciously.

"Tell him that he should've made the wrong turn," Sam replied softly as he walked past Gabriella.

As soon as Gabriella turned around to look at Cloaked Sam, he disappeared without a trace. She heard grunting and turned her head to notice Sam climbing up to the ledge, his fur color bright and vibrant compared to the cloaked version of Sam.

"Gabriella? I heard someone else calling out--"

"It wasn't me," Gabriella uttered, confused in her tone.

Sam stood up on his feet while dusting himself off. "What do you mean?"

Gabriella turned back around and blinked her eyes as if she had just got done seeing a weird hallucination. "I saw someone else."

"Yeah...me too," Sam replied, confused. "I wonder who that is."

"I don't know...he just told me that...that...that--"

"What?" Sam questioned anxiously.

"That you should've made the wrong turn," Gabriella answered, her voice shaky. "I don't know what that means."

Sam immediately widened his eyes as everything just flashed right before his eyes.

_Flashbacks:_

_"Must've made a wrong turn and end up right back where you are. Weird," Sam uttered while leaning out of the vehicle he stole from the B.A.D.G.U.Y.S._

_For some reason, it glitched back to Guy, who's sweating and panting as if he hasn't had water for days._

_Then, it glitched to Guy sleeping in the car next to him--then it-_

_"_ **_H̸̳͙̒̅ͅö̸͉̻͘͝p̸̫̘̝͔̃e̸͖̮̙̒͛ ̸̪̈́͑̚ỷ̶̺̮̄͒͑ŏ̴̡̟̫͜ư̸͕̂ ̵̥͓̂̒͌͜s̴̥̦̑l̸͙̪͇̊̈́̈e̸̗̜̩̊͠p̵͓̱̑̋͠t̶̩̱͘ ̴̞̄ŵ̵̨̤͓̘̍͠e̶̤̳͘l̵̤͈̃͐l̸͍̇͝"_ **

_"You don't_ **_f̷̛͕͍̤i̵̙͚̝͂t̶̙͉̖̣͐_ ** _anybody, not even your own_ **_m̵͚͔̗̻̋o̴͓̝̒ṫ̶̻̼̼͜h̴̹̄͑͋e̶̯̳̐̄r̶̹̰̋̇̒̓_ ** _!_

_"Keep trying,_ **_Ș̶̂ạ̶̰̥̌̊͠ͅm̴̬̥͑̅͝ͅ_ ** _."_

_"The truth is, you're the_ **_b̵̹͉̞͕̓ẽ̸̲̖̃s̵̹̲̈́̀̓͂ţ̵̞́͜ ̵̥̓f̶̹̣͕̿̄ͅr̵̭̮̥͛̄̉i̴̝̍̈͑̊e̵̠͑̑̿̐n̷̙͍̽d̴̤̜͚̦͑_ ** _I ever had."_

_"I'm the only_ **_f̵̈͜r̵̡͐͒i̵͚͚̦̰͌̈́͊͝e̵̼̩̩͚̐͝n̸͇̲͆̈́̋d̵͜͠_ ** _you ever had."_

_"Yes, that's what makes you the best."_

_Present:_

Sam blinked his eyes before recovering his head.

"Is everything okay, Sam?" Gabriella uttered while putting her hand on his shoulder to snap him back to reality.

Sam shook his head with tears edging out of his eyes. "Guy...we need to go back to him...but--" He looked over at the cliff and realized that the car already sunk into the lake. "It's too late...is it?"

"Yeah...but I thought that he doesn't want to see us."

"Well...I don't know why but I'm having a bad feeling that he's going to be in grave danger if we don't go back to him."

"What kind of grave danger are we talking about?"

"That's just the thing...I have no idea."

~.~

Guy felt someone tapping on his cheek, causing him to groan.

"E.B, don't disturb him," He heard a familiar voice speaking up. It's some sort of an angelic voice. 

The tapping ensued as he slowly opened his eyelids to notice a light blinding him. At first, he thought he was in heaven or something with some angel tapping him with a finger. He slowly gazed up to see a child with a tight red hair ponytail and cute pink dress tilting her head when he finally had his vision cleared.

Guy's brow twitched slightly to see a child waking him up. "Am...Am I in heaven?"

"No?" the child answered with an arched brow that showed her confusion.

Guy rubbed his forehead only to realize that there's a cloth.

 _"What the-? Where did this come from?--"_ His train of thought was suddenly interrupted when he saw a familiar woman in a purple dress and beanie driving slowly in the car. His went comically wide while his cheeks blushed madly while recognizing her instantly.

_"Michellee?"_

The little girl tilted her head and looked between him and her mother. Then a bright smile cornered on her face as if she just connected the dots.

Michellee flicked a glance behind her while she's driving and then sighed in relief when she saw that Guy was awake. "Oh, good, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Michellee took a brief glance at Guy while Guy scratched his head.

"Um...peachy. Ow," Guy whimpered while feeling a bump on his head.

Michellee clenched her jaw tightly. "I'm so sorry about that. You freaked me out when you just...well--" She used her body to convulsed into a waking motion that she witnessed him doing earlier.

"What did you hit me with? Besides your car?" Guy asked while arching a brow.

"A frying pan," the little girl answered plainly.

"E.B," Michellee uttered while gasping slightly.

"What? You did hit him with a frying pan," E.B, the little girl, pointed out bluntly.

"Huh, that explains the bump on my head," Guy muttered to himself.

Michellee sighed deeply. "I'm sorry. You just scared me--"

Guy waved it off with a softness in his tone. "It's fine, it's fine. It's all good. I would've done the same thing if I was that...well, paranoid. I mean, I-what I'm trying to say is--"

"Don't worry, I get it. I get it," Michellee replied while nodding her head quickly to show him she understood.

"Oh? Okay then," Guy uttered as he sat up and glanced out of the window.

_**They're still in the desert, driving exceedingly slow. She must have slightly bumped him in the legs or she might realize that she was going too fast and not watching the road, thus...there he was. Sitting in the backseat of his crush's car. Crush? Did I say crush? You better believe I did! But Guy doesn't know it yet, so we got to keep it on the low profile. However, when he saw Michellee, his face felt like fire. He failed in front of her at the invention competition in Glurfsburg. Well, Michellee was the only sympathetic one in the room. On top of that, she actually didn't pass him up or run him over and kept going. How could a woman like her be able to carry a heavy man like him?** _

Guy glanced back at Michellee, who's focused on the road again. He cleared his throat to get her attention. "Um, thank you for saving me out there."

"Oh, well, I--it's no problem," Michellee responded with a light shade of pink on her cheeks.

Guy smiled warmly at her while staring at her intense focus upon the road.

"You seem to know my mom," E.B spoke to him while tilting her head.

Guy seemed surprised that E.B caught that. "Well, I met her yesterday from the invention competition."

Guy would not like to remember that day...and that night. However, the only good memories he had on that day was meeting Michellee and only talking to her for brief moments but those were about it.

E.B's eyes sparkled when Guy mentioned the invention competition. "You're the guy that had his self-flyer explode!!!"

Michellee broadened her eyes. "E.B!"

Guy blushed a bit. "Uh...yeah."

"You weren't hurt or anything, were you?" E.B asked, tilting her head.

"Nope. I'm fine. I'm going to rebuild it once we get to someplace safe," Guy determined while E.B smiled brightly.

"When you rebuild it, can I fly it?!" E.B probed excitedly.

Michellee shook her head in discouragement. "E.B, you know those things are dangerous."

Guy twisted the corner of his mouth downwards. "Well, I don't want any children flying it without their parent's permission...and your mother seemed against it."

E.B frowned while lowering her gaze at the ground.

Guy pondered for a moment, trying to think of something else to talk about. "You know, when I was about your age, I used to watch inventors showing off their craft on television. One of them I can recall was named Walt Lake. He invented all sorts of wonderful inventions that go beyond anyone's imagination. He invented the face-iron, the foggles, out-of-order tape recorder, the handstand, and last--but not least, the can opener. He's fantastic. Sometimes I wonder if I ever saw him, he would let me try all of those neat inventions."

E.B arched a brow. "Have you ever tried them?"

"Never got a chance to. Well, the distance was too long and both of my parents are busy so...I never got a chance to."

E.B tilted her head. "What else did you do when you're my age? Do you get stuck at home a lot?"

"Eh, no. No. My parents are usually at work so my brothers and I just go out and play until they come back home."

"Brothers? How many do you have?"

"Four."

"Whoa, that's a lot of brothers."

"Yeah, harder for my parents to keep track of sometimes. I could list all of the broken bones my oldest brother, Dave, has throughout my life," Guy replied with pride.

"Really? Could you tell me about one?!" E.B probed excitedly.

"Well, let's see," Guy began to explain. "There's one time--"

Michellee watched Guy talking with E.B about his times as a child, making her own child laugh at the orange-furred Knox. Her cheeks became redder the more she drove and the more she watched Guy bond with her daughter. Then...she thought about her husband. She thought about how little E.B remembered her father. She thought about how much Guy reminded her of her husband. He's thoughtful, caring, and he seemed good with kids...that's as far as she knew Guy. She frowned sadly, thinking more about her deceased husband and how much he missed out on her daughter's life if he had not been dead.

~.~

_Other reality:_

"Elanabeth!" Louis called as he searched through Stovepipe Junction with his mask on. "Elanabeth!"

He soon found her bike as he noticed footsteps printed onto the dirt. Then he glanced up just in time to see the spinning petals upon the top of the tilted treehouse. Louis crawled up the tree and looked into the tent to see a young seventeen-year-old girl hugging herself.

"Elanabeth, what are you doing here?" Louis asked her as she looked up to stare into his pale eyes.

She wiped her tears while pushing her red short hair out of her face. "I just...well...this place just reminds me of them, you know."

"Reminds you of Mom and Guy?"

Elanabeth nodded her head. "Mostly. I miss them."

Louis sat across from her with a frown. "I know, kiddo. Me too. I miss my dad and my girlfriend. It's been seven years since I've seen them. But they're not dead. I just know it."

"I know, Cat said something about them being in some kind of an alternate reality. I wonder...if Mom would've enjoyed everything if she didn't have me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...I mean, she enjoyed painting back when I was really small. After my real dad passed away...she gave up her dream just so that she could protect me," Elanabeth explained sadly. "I wonder that in an alternate reality...would've she be happier without me?"

"Highly doubt it," Louis reassured her with a small smile while feeling his phone vibrate. He picked it up urgently and answered. "Hello?"

"Louis. We need you and Elanabeth back at camp. This is urgent," Louis heard the Grinch called from the other end of the phone.

"What do you--"

"Just hurry back before those cultists find you guys," Grinch cautioned as he hanged up the phone.

Louis sighed deeply and glanced up at Elanabeth.

"It sounds urgent," Elanabeth pointed out.

"Yeah, it is. Come on." Louis helped Elanabeth out of the tilted treehouse and decided to ride back to their camp quickly.

By the time they reached the camp, they noticed Vicky pacing back and forth outside of the tent. 

"What's going on in there, Vicky?" Louis asked urgently.

"They just found two more dots," Vicky uttered as she entered the tent with Louis and Elanabeth.

"Two more dots?" Elanabeth probed.

"Yeah. One of them belonged to Sam," Vicky replied quickly. "And the other one belonged to Guy."

"Dad," Elanabeth uttered tearfully. "What about Mom?"

"I'm sorry, sweetie. She didn't appear on the screen," Vicky responded sympathetically.

"What about Dad and Gluntz?" Louis inquired.

"No. Not them either," Vicky replied while they entered the lab room where Cat, Stan, Dave, and Jeffrey were repairing the circular thick metal.

"What are you guys building?" Louis uttered as Grinch came up right beside him.

"A wormhole," Grinch indicated while Mr. Jenkins warbled up behind Elanabeth, causing her to giggle and stroke the chickeraffe as if he's been her pet.

"A wormhole?"

"To an alternate reality," Grinch uttered.

"Are you guys crazy?" Someone's familiar voice spoke up from behind as they turned around just in time to see Karlos in his fishbowl, except he had the metal body to where he could move around without having to get out of his fishbowl.

"Isn't that going to mess up our reality?" Karlos pointed out to the group.

Cat smiled wryly. "Oh, Marlin, you seem to worry too much. Besides, it would be worth it to come and save everyone from an alternate reality."

Dave arched a brow. "Wait...I have a question. When the dots flicker on like that on the screen, what does that mean?"

Grinch pondered for a moment. "Well, it could mean one or two things. One could be meaning that someone in an alternate reality is regaining memories from this reality or the other one could possibly be the other-selves merging into our friends slowly."

"Hmm, wait, how would you know about the other-selves?" Louis uttered.

"When you go to an alternate reality, there's you from an alternate reality and there's the other you from our reality...trapped," Grinch continued to explain. "It's such a complex topic that needs more time to explore. This just took seven years of research."

"What do you need us here for?" Elanabeth questioned.

Grinch raised his finger. "Ah, yes, well, there's a recent news that talks about the cultists hunting for all of us right now...and creating some kind of wormhole to an alternate reality."

"Don't tell me Murray knows--"

Grinch sighed deeply. "Yes, he does sadly but this took just as much time to figure that the 'Outsiders' are not really dead as we did with figuring out where our friends are...so...they created something to get into an alternate reality to end our friends once and for all."

"Oh boy," Louis muttered.

"Oh boy, indeed." 

**_To Be Continued..._ **


End file.
